Getting Naked Poem by RIC BASTASA

what makes it interesting?
it is the seldom way of showing
what is there
it does not happen everyday
and that is it, but
i imagine if we were born less
the shame and the malice
there is actually nothing there
but humanity and the coldness
of society
there is no lust in there
but just our own shape and skin
and bones wrapped so tenderly
with care

love and understanding is there
only when
we shed off the crude manners
of our built-in civilization who for long
in the pretense of religion
and governance
have taken us away from our very own nature

the death of candidness
the scourge of expensive dresses

once i go naked inside my room
and look closely at my body in the human-sized mirror
this is reality i proclaim to my senses
there is nothing lewd in my belly
there is love in my navel
there is this kingdom of love
hidden inside my guts

tomorrow i will be honest
i will wear no masks
no clothes

i will shed off the name that they gave me.