I see an eternal truth wordlessly expressed in Toast and The Long Day Closes. Eternal truths are the hardest to believe.
You the young boy need not be afraid to gaze upon a beautiful man beyond your reason. You don’t know why you need to look, but nothing makes you happier. There is no why. As you learn the world around you and its fears become yours, you feel bashful and ashamed. You stop before you drink in the man before you.
![Boy looks back at workman pulling off his trousers in barn](https://fawny.org/blogimagery/Toast_3-trousers.png)
![Workman dries off a young lad with a towel as the lad smiles and gazes at him](https://fawny.org/blogimagery/Toast_4_smile.png)
But go right ahead. He doesn’t know or care – or he’s just open to you and your happiness. You can’t imagine how, but he is. He’s happy that you’re happy.
![Boy sits gazing out a window. MAN: Pass us a few bricks, will ya?](https://fawny.org/blogimagery/LongDayCloses_1a-passus.png)
![Shirtless mason turns to his side](https://fawny.org/blogimagery/LongDayCloses_2-mason.png)
![Shirtless mason winks at us](https://fawny.org/blogimagery/LongDayCloses_3-wink.png)
As you grow up, learn that if you expect men to accept you they will. Even if they know how happy they make you. The loveliest men are the ones who can accept the most. They’ve got nothing to lose. They can afford it. You can too.
![Brother, shirtless, leans over at washbasin](https://fawny.org/blogimagery/LongDayCloses_8-lavabo.png)
![Brother, shirtless: Hey, Bud, will you do my back for me?](https://fawny.org/blogimagery/LongDayCloses_9-back.png)
![Bud runs a washcloth along his brother’s back](https://fawny.org/blogimagery/LongDayCloses_10-back_ii.png)
It takes a lifetime to learn this lesson and you might not get there. It’s hard to believe you could be safe with your own kind, even among princes. But who else can you be safe with? Whatever else we need, we need men.