Rudy Francisco is a renowned American Poet, born in San Diego, California and is of Belizean descent. The poem is narrated in such a way, that it seems like a character as well as the author of the poem is narrating the poem. The poem is written by Francisco and narrated by him in the given video. But not much is known about his childhood and if he has really gone through this. So, it can be considered, the poem is said from the point of view of a man in his late 20s, who is in the stage of life, where he has learnt from his past mistakes and now, he knows what he wants to become. Since, this is spoken poetry, it can be considered that a character is narrating his own story. Rudy Francisco is currently 38 years old. In his poem, he mentions, about The Anti-Bullying movement. He himself is a dark-skinned man. The poem is written from the point of view of a man, who is probably in his late 20s and has now truly understood who he is and what he wants to become. He has come a long way, from thinking pride lies in destroying to doing something purposeful in life, which helps others, instead of harming them. The poet covers many topics- Toxic masculinity and how good/peace and evil/violence are two sides of the same coin. There is a fine but very distinct line between peace and violence, and its very easy to cross the line, from either side. It is on us- which side we choose. The poet gives instances, such as bloody knuckles and being rewarded as an example of toxic masculinity. The poem is addressed mainly towards the youngsters. But, at the same time, the character narrates the poem in such a way, that it is also directed to the myths present in the stereotypical minds of the society. But the target audience are the young men. The character, through his own experience tries to tell that a person’s (male’s) identity is much more than what he can destroy. In the current time, it is engraved (by the society) in the mind of men and boys that they can’t be sensitive. There’s no problem if they are aggressive. They are always supposed to be strong. “The first time one of my classmates took a 'Yo Mama' joke a little too far I remembered my training, So I turned his nose into a fountain. My fist 5 pennies, I closed my eyes, Made a wish, I came home with bloody knuckles and it was the first piece of artwork my family hung on the fridge. I remember staring at my hands the same way you stare at a midterm when all your answers are correct. I didn't know what class this was, But I did know I was passing.” Through this poem, the poet in a way slaps the racially affected mentality of the society. The poet draws a comparison between heart and the fist. Our heart is considered to be the size of our fist. But what we forget is that their functions are different. We are not identified with what we destroy. Pride does not and should not come with a sense of what we ruin. Rather, it should come with a sense of what we build, with our open mind. The narrator says that he is learning that his body is not a weapon, but rather it is something which is meant to spread love and happiness. He beautifully explains this by comparing a graveyard to a garden. He says that the only difference between a graveyard and a garden is where we put the flower. In a graveyard, flowers are placed on corpses, thus, they tend to dry up after sometime and die. On the other hand, in a garden, flowers bloom on trees, thus, they grow beautifully. So, the difference is if flowers are put on something dead, they die, but, if they are allowed to grow among the living, they blossom. He wants the young men to be in a war which moves people with its goodness and not one where people are killed [rifle and violin (musical instrument)] “All made by things that were used to take people's lives, But now they create sound that puts life back into people's bodies, Which is you say a weapon will always be a weapon, But we choose how we fight the war, And from this I learned that even the most destructive instruments can still create a melody worth dancing to, And sometimes don't we also call that a battle? I wonder how long it took to convince the first rifle that it can hold a note instead of a bullet but still fire into a crowd and make everyone move.” The concept of toxic masculinity is used to refer to certain cultural norms that are associated with harm to society and to men themselves. The socialization of boys in patriarchal societies often normalizes violence, such as in saying “boys will be boys” with regard to bullying and aggression. Men don’t cry. Men are always strong. Men can’t wear make-up. The diversion of boys towards cars and girls towards dolls is where it starts. Then, they are brought up in such a way that they consider it is okay to hit someone. Hitting and bullying by a boy to another boy is glorified in some societies. “We turn our boys into bayonets, We point them in the wrong direction, We pull their triggers, And then we just ignore all the damage they're doing in the distance Using these lines, the poet tells the society how harmful toxic masculinity is. Francisco says, society keeps telling men to man up, mocks the one who is sensitive and considers them weak. In this way, they trigger them. And when, due to all the pressure, they make a mistake, cause the damage, society turns a blind eye towards these men. The tone of the narrator/character is filled with frustration and guilt. At the same time, he is excited to bring about the change and moreover anticipates to see what he becomes. He starts narrating, by relating toxic masculinity to Pedro Reyes. His tone clearly shows his awe towards Pedro Reyes innovation. In the poem, the narrator depicts that though he is guilty of his past, he has learnt important lessons from it. He tells us that, even though someone is a weapon, they can become a musical instrument. “You see, once, I came across a picture of a strange-looking violin. The caption said that it was made out of a rifle. I thought to myself, 'Someday that could be me."
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