- except should be accept, because you mean that you accept the person.
It is the attitude I love in this poem, really directed at that little boy in the title, who was no where near to being a man, and you show him what real men do, and you gave the ending a funny little verse that made me smile. It was more like a kick in the teeth to him, but I could imagine you holding your head up high, and being grateful that you did not have to settle for the boy, and instead realised he would probably never be a real man.