MIRROR POEMS

-- Lonely Nakedness --

John Herlihy

There is something inevitably lonely about nakedness,

There, laying on our backs, thoughtless and all alone.

Or just standing there, surrounded by air, in starkness,

No eyes to look upon, care about, this flesh and bone.

Unadorned for the public, undressed, elemental again,

My solitary mood allows no one to enter, no one may see.

The body at home in a haunted house, the ghosts say amen.

I roam thru the quiet rooms in my body suit, no one but me.

No self-consciousness, no Adam in me, no instinctive shame,

Uncovered and unbedecked, with honesty worthy to bear.

What is there to be ashamed about, and what is the blame?

With no one around with interest, I have nothing to share.

I live with my nakedness, just as I live with myself, all alone;

No one will see me, no one will know me, as skin and bone.

-- Naked Loneliness --

John Herlihy

There is something inevitably naked about loneliness,

There, laying on our backs, full of longing and all alone.

Bereft of family, friends and loved ones, in starkness,

No eyes to look upon, care about, this flesh and bone.

Now unfriended, with no one to talk to, elemental again,

Loneliness stirs my emotions, my feelings seem unclothed.

My mind at home in a haunted house, the ghosts say amen,

I roam thru quiet rooms in solitude, as if rendered disrobed.

Totally preoccupied, no Eve with me, only myself to blame,

Unfriended and unloved, such honesty is difficult to bear.

Who can I reach out to, when I myself have no true name?

No one around to express interest, with no one to share.

I live with my loneliness as I live with myself, all alone;

Still, I know a day will come, when I am no longer so prone.

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(c) John Herlihy 13 May 2020