The Good Man (metered version)

The Good Man Tries Again

I have to endure, though
I’m growing unsure, but
I’ve always tried
to be the good man.

And if I retreat, slide
off the hot seat, then
who’s brushed aside
when I’ve left them?

The bullies just love me,
the users as well.
If I disappeared, they’d
miss me and yell.

To be the good man, I’ve
lost to the losers, been
laughed at by looters,
and held back by holders—

and speaking of holding, I
hold banal brazen, and
if I must bear now,
tormentors as well,

then I . . . as the good man,
embrace this hell.