I am the man and as the man I am soft and full of gentle light. I am the man and as the man I hold explosions in my belly and lasers in my eyes. I am the man and as the man I bow before the moment that threatens to overcome me and disperse my body like tiny grains of sand over the cold water of the gentle river at my feet.

I love with a trickle and not with a gush. My hands reach by measured steps. With each moment, the waters are tested, the temperature is consulted, the choices are kept in clear sight. Within my infinite gentleness lies the ferocity that lies within all men. In me is the killer, the rapist, the dictator, the ravenous black wolf of the forest at midnight, the contented fat man in a palace of luxury. But in me, in my intricate tactfulness, all of them become a night of silence, a wink of the eye, a raising of an eyebrow.

Having all hate within me, I have become the manifestation of simple love. In my eyes now shines the adoration of little boys lost in the afternoon, looking for their mother when the toys have been discarded and the hour is getting late. My smile accepts and surrenders. My face fills up with the knowledge that is old and ordinary and, in so being, stands above all else.

When you meet me, speak softly and don't move too quickly. Do not try to wrestle or outrun me. Be as kind to me as you would be to your most delicate son.