It’s with regret and some surprise
I must announce the sad demise
Of what was once so wild and free
My erstwhile masculinity

I gave it up to get a job
And so I could both hob and nob
With people who could help me steer
My nascent germinal career

But germinal is the right word;
For that end to which I was spurred
Was like a germ that spread through me
And poisoned my integrity

But I guess I’ll reclaim it now.
I know it happened: yet, somehow,
I’ll get up from this pity bed
And raise my manhood from
The dead