Manhood

I was never drafted,
though I never had a deferment.
My draft record once was lost.

One time called up,
I was ordered not to report:
the bus too full.

I never chose to enlist
feel a kind of shame when my friends talk
of boot camp and war.

While I fear some may think me a coward,
they pronounce me lucky.

It’s assumed we will all share death.

But, having come out as a poet,
I’m dismissed among macho men.