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2021 Poems

Naked

If I were not left to stand naked here
Stripped head to toe, not much to stare
Upon in the shadows of this exposing hour
Nowhere to run, no, no protective tower

Could I stand myself or you of me?
Exposed to the core; no more reverie
To drift these moments of folly
And pass the time content and jolly?

No, this dark hour has left me here
In the open, alone and full of fear
I cannot beckon, who would I call?
To stand by my side, naked and all?

For at my center, the liar sits
He’s taken control and silenced my fits
He conjures my dreams and calls forth my ghosts
He will not relent until I’m fully un-clothed

Not for the moment that I long to be
Composed, quite clothed, protected fully
By this will to be the man who I am
When I’ve yielded to God, my own judgements be damned!

First I must let go of these illusions of control
Un-bind my demons and embrace my ghosts
The light there waiting for me to take up new clothes
And stand with aspirations of the life I’ll compose

For this is a journey taken one step at a time
The trauma, the pain, takes time to unwind
We can’t blame ourselves for mistakes that we’ve made
All is forgiven when we ourselves face the day

But forgiving yourself is the first step to take
Only then can you begin your healing to make
This person is longing to be set free
No longer naked, now standing proudly.

epilogue
I write this poem still naked myself
No longer do I care what the others will shout
My exposure is mine and I have no doubt
This day is mine and in the light I will sprout!

By Makar

Stephen Sutherlin is a designer, poet and musician. He writes poetry about life in the southwest and enjoys metrical lyricism.

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