Born to parents who would fist fight every night,
Provoked into fighting with other boys on the school blacktop.
Learning to understand my nature and my place in society,
Deploying as a soldier to both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Taking risks as a way to push my comfort level,
Trial by fire to prove myself as a man to other men.
Honoring the ancient heroes of myth in my heart,
Conan, Odysseus, Kull, Achilles, and Cú Chulainn.

My spirit has been forged on the anvil of Crom Crúaich,
Visiting to sacrifice at Magh Slécht, the plain of prostration.
Shedding my old ideas and misconceptions like snakeskin,
Reborn for a new decade of future self-discovery and conflict.

Manhood is born through adversity and strength amongst men,
No need to worship a god or practice religious ritual to be connected.
Masculinity is the only spirituality that any man needs, time immemorial,
Every man must define himself with honor, discipline, cunning, and valor.

[W.C. Morrow lives in a small town in the foothills of North Carolina. He joined the army in August of 2007. He deployed twice to Afghanistan in 2009, with 3/82 AVN REGT, 82ND CAB, Ft. Bragg for six months and Kuwait/Iraq with 416TH TC, 260TH QM BN( Deactivated), Hunter Army AirField in 2010, for one year. His poetry pours from his dreams and beats from his heathen heart like a drum. Poetry is the method in which he writes with great satisfaction and expresses his most inner creativity, but as a form of expression it isn’t popular with readers.]