I Stand Here Naked
08 Jun 2012 2 Comments
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This poem was inspired by a conversation i had with my stepdaughter that led me to an incredible poem by Lucille Clifton. Then i watched the videos she posted of some of her poems. And THAT inspired me to finish the poem (well, i think it will need tweaking in time) and get it out here. Thank you, Katya, for your inspiration.
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I stand here naked in all my
turpitude and glory.
I am not nude. Undressed.
I am naked.
Nude is artful. Botticelli and his Venus.
Michelangelo and his David.
Salvador Dali and his nude women
melting breasts and hips into
obscurity and notoriety.
My body has stretch marks and
folds. It sags and jiggles.
My body has carried children
and pushed them out unhindered
and unaided by man.
My body has grown, shrank, grown –
carried, nurtured, fought,
and triumphed.
I don’t pose artfully nude, a
passive model of flesh and bone.
Nude is demure, serene; a
Madonna and child at rest.
Naked is passionate, challenging. Demanding one
to experience life without reserve.
I scream and cry and moan out
my pleasures and pains in
waves of ecstasy.
i am stripped of pretense and of
clothing.
I am naked. And I am up to something.
7 VI 2012
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