NOT NAKED
OR
PSYCHIC CONDOM, VARIATION 3
by Gae Rusk

At this stage of life
I am never naked
my clothes
falling to the floor
my accessories
trailing from the door
but
I step in to shower
still clad
still wearing layers
of life’s debris
and what resists water and soap
and what floats free
varies with time
changing on me

When I go to bed
clean and
no gown
I am still
not naked
still clothed in envy
lying under
crocheted uncertainties
sleeping
on my heart side
wearing go-go boots
I have named
Fear and Pride

Was I ever naked?
Did I ever reveal
my thinning skin?
I think I
wore dresses without panties
on windy days
rolled across a marriage bed
and bathed with babies
but
the real me
the true me
the me at that dermic level
that me
has never been uv’d
because
I wear at all times
a psychic condom
I peer at all times
through a membrane
that filters my feelings
and induces my healing
by separating me
from
social
intercourse
and interpreting for me
words
from the fully clothed
and the fully naked