Naked

Poetry in free verse

You are so eager
for him to touch your naked body,
so ready
to let him run his callused hands
over your soft curves — 
take them all in,
so inviting of his lustful gaze
welcoming his alacrity
with your own impatience.

But have you ever wondered
why it is so hard for you
to let him see your naked soul?
Your wishes, desires, fantasies,
all skeletons in the closet
laid bare for him to feast his eyes on
as readily as you let him
gape at your naked skin?

The way you let him
devour your bare breasts,
would you let him look
at your naked heart with such ease?

Would you let him in your soul
as readily as you let him in
between your legs,
and in your outstretched arms?

What are you hiding, dear brave woman,
that you are afraid
to let someone up so close?
What is it you fear will happen
if you lay your deepest desires bare
in front of him?

You’re broken, you say,
that your ravaged heart
has taken such a beating,
it can’t be whole again.
But what if I tell you,
he’s the same?
That he’s so tired of women
who hide away behind their facades
of perfection, that he’s
stopped believing he’ll ever find love,
that he will find another soul
as pained as his own?

If he knew his was a heart
as broken as yours
would you let him be close
like a kindred soul,
or would you push him away,
afraid that he might gaze into your depths
and see for himself
through all your pretences,
and tell you with his sighs,
that he knows exactly how it feels
to have the whole world look right through you?

You’re afraid he might run, I know,
but if you knew for certain he’d stay,
would you give him another chance?

Would you give yourself
another chance?

Another chance -
at love, at life,
at new beginnings,
and at being whole once again
after being shattered to the core?

If you liked this piece of work, you might be interested in my book of poems — Stolen Reflections: Some Stories Are Told in Verse.