Once, we were good.

We were good men once.

We were men of honor, of chivalry.

We were the men that had legacies to leave.

We are the men who loved women with a passion, purity, and protection that wasn’t understood.

We used to protect even our eyes from a sensual image.

But the women that we longed to protect would not even protect themselves.

We were broken in spirit after living a lie.

We were stabbed in the heart, and stared in the eyes of our assailant.

The women of virtue we had imagined did not exist; we were tasked with reclaiming virtue for them.

It was at this point that we lost hope.

We were good men once.

We were good until women told us we didn’t have to be.

We were good men once, back when our ideals blinded us.

Once, we were good.