Frozen fast all around: You bear the fire.
Going down in flames: You are the cool hand.
Hard exterior. Genie in a bottle.
Stories we are told about men.
Stories we tell ourselves. 
Stories both understandable and dangerous.
Language as unspoken as it is pealing. 
An arrangement of stories about men.
Some true. Some less. Some False.

Keeping decalescent feelings inside.
Keeping hearts keen and algid. Armored.
Keeping formless parts well formed.
Keeping frontier between inside and outside.

Two stories. 
One told to us. 
One created by us.