Naked Ecstasy
By John Herlihy

Through the night sill of the window,
I notice in moonlight a specter at once,
Beckoning me from the deep shadows,
Like a wild animal about to pounce.
The purity of a mysterious presence,
With no real hint of a physical form,
Projected outward an eerie resonance,
That seemed from some mystery torn.
As often happens in nocturnal dreams,
I floated outward feeling feathery light.
In the beauty of dreams their lure seems
Like the phantoms who prowl the night.
I lay quietly nestled in the velvety tundra,
Under a mountain shining with aurora light;
Grass dewy damp awakening my slumber,
As I lay dreamily in the shadowy umbra.

I lay there as naked as the day I was born,
My night cloth cut clear away as though torn.
Free of clothing down to the very last stitch,
Free of all sensation down to the last itch.
We live with our inhibitions through the day,
As we accept our reticence with little to say.
Now moody languor wrapped me in its arms,
Free of shyness, and uncharacteristically calm.
The feel of a wild animal crept up my spine,
Feeling now wet all over and smelling of thyme.
I want to rise as an animal to shake the drops free,
To utter whispers and catcalls to claim what I be.
Awash naked as a babe in its own primitive bath,
Nature herself offering this pleasure on my behalf.
I rolled through the wet umbrage to free the filth,
Years in gathering, forever bound in life’s brutal tilth.

The body now finally unburdened in naked ecstasy,
Under the magical spell of this night-dreamy spree.
Rolling and rolling over the tender fingers of grass,
Moistened with dew drops that stung like cold glass.
The skin took on the feel of a rose petal of pink hue,
I feel like a kitten wishing simply to purr and mew.
Oh my, I thought, should I cry out or just sigh,
Or finally give in to the impulse to simply cry.
Not the breast or heart, the whole body touched,
By the finger of a secret force with a silken brush.
I lay there as though startled like a forest fawn,
Impervious to the world, awaiting the rosy dawn.
I don’t know how to explain how I really feel,
My mind has gone blank and my feelings are surreal.
I knew the dream had a reality that held me in thrall;
I felt the dignified earth move slowly beneath us all.