Striptease

I’m standing before you.

I’m standing before you

In some static dimension.

I’m standing before you―

Inside and outside of myself...

I'm standing...I’m peeling away.

As you command, I’m peeling away,

Removing my layers, one by one...

My walls, my barriers――

As I peel away, you see it.

You see the grunge, the skin of dirt.

You see the truth. You see it――

You’ve seen enough. No―

You’ve seen more than enough.

But it’s not enough...you want more.

So I continue on, discarding

My last line of defense.

You see everything. You see my――

I swallow my breaths...

 

I’ve been exposed.

A few notes... (4.12.2011)

I thought I'd give a few notes on some of the poems I've posted so far...

Purge Scenario #1 (4.10): This is the first poem in my series of "scenario" poems, referring to a thought technique that I had used before with unfavorable fantasies about people I either didn't care for or wanted to get over. I call my efforts "purge scenarios."

*"Written verse," of course, refers to my poetry drafts; "black pearl" and "Dell baby" both describe my computer.

December 7, 1998 (3.31): This poem describes a bullying incident in high school.

In Defense of the Superwoman (3.16): I had gotten tired of online trolls picking on Alicia Keys, one of my favorite artists. So I wrote this poem in her defense. I don't intend for anyone to agree with me, only to hear where I'm coming from.

Persephone and Hades (2.21): By now, just about everyone's heard the survival story of Jaycee Dugard. This is my tribute to her. In the poem she is the speaker, her words directed toward her captor, Phillip Garrido. I thought that the Greek myth about Persephone's abduction fit perfectly.

*Diem perdidi is Latin, meaning "it's my unlucky day"; literally translated, it means "I lost the day." In the poem, I was playing on the phrase's literally translated meaning.

Purge Scenario #1

At an ungodly hour, in my dusty night garb,

I drift into my usual waking notion,

Which takes me to a place foreign to me

In the weeknight’s cemetery hours.

I see you, in uniform, approaching me,

Singing to me a familiar selection

Which here makes sense, while dancing

In a way that just makes you look like......

I’m pulled into a place that I may have seen.

You’ve undone yourself, surrounded by

Scantily-clad women in colorful adornments.

Your newfound audacity amazes me.

You shove me into a nearby chair

And force me to listen as you sing

Of the non-necessity of spoken language

As your concubines dance around you.

Before me I see my investments—

My written verse and my black pearl.

You take my verse and tear it in two;

My Dell baby you grind to dust.

I rage, and scream, and cuss, and attack

But my words are muffled behind your notes.

Your helpers pull me back and away

As I guarantee your immediate death.

Before I can break free to keep my promise

I return to myself and my own dull reality,

Laughing at the thought of my secret boldness,

Hoping this adventure will distance us.

Keys

While window shopping at the mall

I stop by a jewelry display case

Where something catches my attention――
 

It is a set of silver keys.

Shiny, beautiful little keys.
I am obsessed by these keys.
 

I don’t know why, but I like keys.

Lately there’s been something about them…
Something that gives them importance.
 

I guess it’s what they signify.

Keys, to most, mean access―

A way in, a way out.

 

With keys we open many things――

Locks, doors, chests and drawers;
Hearts, souls, our wildest dreams.

Keys can also set us free――

From prison cells and rusty cages;
From the confines of our own madness.
 

Maybe I’m seeking access to something―

Something that’s been denied me for years,
Or something I myself have denied.

Or maybe I long to escape,

To break away and be free…
Or, perhaps, to set something free.

Whatever my desire, here I stand,

Admiring these trinkets and their sparkle,
Thinking to myself,

Gotta have one, one of those keys.

But my money isn’t enough. See?—
I need a way out. I need access.

Love Scenario #38

We’ve disappeared together―

Vanished, you and me.

We’ve abandoned our lives

To escape for a night,

Out into a field of darkness

Under the moon and her stars.

We give in to our passion

Upon a blanket of wild grass.

For a moment we gaze into the heavens,

Overtaken by the vastness of space.

Our sweet throes are accompanied

By the chirpy ballads of crickets

And the warm, whispering whoosh

Of a summer night’s breeze,

Which caresses the canopies

Of the nearby willow trees;

We retreat to their shadows

Once the open cools down,

Resuming our rendez-vous while

The moon peeks in at us from the sky

And the fireflies entertain us

With their illuminating tangos.