The Measure of a Man

        by Sam Padovani

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  "The Measure of a Man"
  
  The safety of silence is shattered
  With the sound of breaking glass,
  The agonized cry of a man
  Telling of emotions that transcend language
  
  Because how much can a man take
  Before he cannot stand,
  Before he cannot bear to lift his head?
  
  How many stones must be thrown
  Before his mind is in ruins?
  And even if he sheds no blood,
  How many stones will hit his body
  Before everything in it is decimated?
  Though his wounds stay open as a warning to the world
  
  How long will he stand
  With a rope around his neck
  Before he kicks away the chair
  Because there is nothing left to hold onto?
  
  This is the test you have given me, dear God
  These are the questions I am afraid to answer
  This is the measure of a man