As There Are Stars
for D.B.A.

interesting the things
to which we have such easy access

ourselves, our bodies
how in easy reach are all her body part
able to strip naked any times she wishes
take a shit or take a shower

I, on the other hand,
think of her as impossible to get to know
or get to see or to have

the way she is her own
can wipe herself, front or back
or bathe or brush her teeth
or spit or blow her nose
or fart or piss

she has access, she controls
what goes in and what comes out
chooses and refuses what to drink
and what to eat, when to wake up
when to fall asleep

why have I, therefore
no access at all to all of her, as she does

what she wears, a fence
allows me to see parts, see through,
areas left bare

I see what the public sees
I know what the public knows

what she knows and sees
perspective I'm interested in

another body with other eyes,
I'd be able to observe what she cannot
what she’d need a mirror for or two
or a few, I could observe

this might be a perspective from which
even she can benefit, my seeing her nude

we do not have the access to ourselves
I started this poem assuming

nude model in an art class
artists from a dozen or more angles
recording, get to see
these varied renditions, projections

I strayin’ far, I off der topic almost
I want to see my baby without clothes

were we alone would you touch me
alone and without clothes,
I'd certainly not be able to resist
planting kisses in choice places

that is if I haven’t time
to plant them everywhere

time enough to cover her
with as many kisses
as there are stars


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2010
11:22 a.m. 14.03.14