“I Am Naked And I Am Me”

As July slowly begins to close, I discovered this “poem” that I composed back near the beginning of this decade. I had entered it into my daily journal that I keep from eight summers ago. It must have been one of those summers where I seriously wanted to begin a “poetic” talent but I am never able to gather the stamina and steadfastness to achieve that lofty summit. Continue to read, if you dare!

“I Am Naked And I Am Me”

Roger Poladopoulos

July 5, 2011

I am naked and I am me.

I am the man that I want to be.

When I am naked, I am nude,

Living life with a positive attitude.

I am naked and I am me.

I am the man that I want to be.

When I am nude I am also proud,

Whether alone or among a crowd.

I am naked and I am me.

I am the man that I want to be.

When I am nude I am living free,

I know that clothes are not for me.

I am naked and I am me.

I am the man that I want to be.

When I am nude, I clear my mind,

Gone are the rags that tie and bind.

I am naked and I am me.

I am the man that I want to be.

When I am nude I am a man-loving man,

I love other men because I can!

I am naked and I am me.

I am the man that I want to be.

I can’t address the poetry except to acknowledge that it is very simple, basic and written by a poetic amateur – me! I wrote this during the second summer that my spouse, Aaron, and I were together. It was our first summer living together and this was several years before marriage equality became legal in Virginia, the state where we life.

Aaron, unlike me, is a very dynamic and skilled poet and I remember his apartment: all the walls were white and he had scribbled his very own poems all onto the walls. Even today he has a number of portfolios filled with his poetry. He often sits down and within a very short amount of time has composed several poems, all examples of different styles and  disciplines. Unfortunately, he has no desire or interest in publishing any of them.

I imagine that as that was our first summer living together, there was possibly a fantasy inside my head that encouraged me to think that I could absorb some of his talent through the process of osmosis. We share the same bed so every night some of his skills would become available inside my brain! We all know that fantasy never materialized!

Aaron continues with his poetry writing – often weekly, if not daily. He even comes home from work and recites a verse or an entire poem to me as he removes his clothing. As for me, after ten years of sleeping together, not a single, solitary poetic skill of his has been absorbed by my brain. So much for the theory of osmosis!

Naked hugs!

Roger/ReNude Pride