I Stand Here Naked

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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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