In Junior High School, in the hallway, I found Marc alone
and I asked him why he’d been teasing me so much.
"Because I know you can take it," he said.
"Oh."
I didn’t know how to respond to that.
If it was a sign of my strength
that he was giving me shit,
how would it look if I broke?
Better to just grin and bear it.

This is how many young men deal with the ribbing of their peers:
just accept it, and give back when they can.
A more sensitive sort might admit
when he was hurt,
and try to address the issue.
That is not how we usually deal.

I shouldered the burden that Marc thrust upon me.
He had a good game.
I could take it,
but Marc was a dick.