I am tough, rough and mean,

I don't care what you think, hear or feel.

Ask me, and I'll speak of no Unreal.

To your ears, I tell not of what they want,

but of what they direly need.

False hope and lies are what I kill.

Fret not and be still.

I'm no monster; I've just a heart of steel.

Hate me not I say, but still you do.

Hate me not I ask, yet your curses echo.

But what am I to do?

I need you to listen,

and believe me, you need me, too.

You see me on every road,

refusing to meet my eye at every curve.

Yet I stay real and unperturbed,

for my task is to not sugarcoat

what's best served plain and cold.

******