N.A.K.E.D.

As I stood in the shower
allowing the water to race lines down my back
there came a truth.
It showed in his stead,
as naked and as exposed as I was.

Peering over at the unlocked door more often than not
I realized a few things.
First, THIS is me I'm giving him.
Second, I spend too much time waiting.
Third, I've never seen him naked. Even after all this time.
Fourth, rejection sucks
Fifth, this water can only cleanse me of so much...
and FUCK it's hot.

To be naked is too be seen.
We all come into this world COMPLETELY unclothed.
We are born without shoes, belts, bags, walls and guards, masks and lies, shirts, overcoats, defense mechanisms and scars.
All of which are things that most of us acquire along the way.
I however "bare" way too much and too often.

I've never seen his skin but he sees mine on the daily.
My mother calls it a gift.....but is it really though?
Because to be seen means you're striped down of all guards.
And therefor, leaving you left vulnerable.
Or so the bittersweet taste of love and rejection has thus lead me to believe.

How do those of us that bare all in our lives
and relationships
live in a world full of people covered up?
Do we spend our precious time standing in the shower for someone that may never show?

The risk of showing skin and letting someone in is scary, I get that. Bearing it all for someone to see invokes the WISHING
and the HOPING and the PRAYING to GOD
that our scars don't appear as scary to them as they are to us.
Not all of us are open books
but wearing a mask seems fat too tedious a thing
and you do so at the risk of losing your own identity.
The thought of that,
to me anyways,
doesn't seem fitting for a life we only get once.

So for now I suppose ill continue to stand naked.
Waiting in showers for someone who'll want to join me
while at the same time accepting their absence
along with the truth that came in his stead.

To be naked is to be seen.