When I Take My Clothes Off For You


When I take my clothes off for you
I won’t do it for sex
I’ll do it to be naked
To show you my scars
Outline all the cracks in my facade
Like the gash on my knee
Chiseled in by rocks
The hairless strip on my right shin
I earned when testing a razor for the first time
Shaving away skin with hair that had not even grown in yet
I’d take off my shirt to let you examine
The piece between my shoulder and underarm
The bit of me that fell out
When I was dancing at the wrong store at the wrong time by the wrong shelf
I’d shuffle out of my skirt to display the burnt patch on my thigh
From when my fingers were tempted by the hot dispenser of the cooler
And the outline of agony when my father didn't believe it actually hurt
I’d show you the tunnels on my stomach
Where the butterflies soared out
As an almost lover said it was time to migrate
And the streak on my forehead 
I created while questioning if my attempts to mean something
Were simply me conforming to a fresh brand of nonconformity
If I loved you enough I’d throw off my heels
So you could see the blisters that coat my feet
I made running away from someone I was becoming
I won’t wear anything
When I’m ready to display the craters on my arms
Engraved from carrying the weight of the universe
I’d look up towards the sky
So you could explore the crack between my chin and neck
Sculpted by the endless glances towards my feet
When I was too afraid to look at the reality before me
You can even stare at my butt
Look at the bruise stained footprints
The souvenirs of the endless times life has kicked my ass
But you can also trace over my sister’s hand-prints on my back
And the eroded streams on my cheeks
From when my feelings shattered their shackles
And escaped the rib cage prison
Where I seal cells with silver lines of poetry flowing through my fingers
Which have impressions of pencils and pages and promises
I could never hold onto
I’ll be your landmark
Something you visited on a field trip
That you study from three feet away
When I take my clothes off for you
You’ll feel the need to eliminate that distance
And slam your form against mine to make sense of it all
But this is me undressed
At my most naked
Laced in crevices and cracks
The closest I can let anyone in
This is the only way I know how to give myself to you
I just ask that you show me the scars on your throat
From all the times your head and heart got into fist fights
The gashes in your mouth from the moments you’ve been tongue tied
Let me peel off your pants to see
The sores on your legs you made trying to stand taller than you are
Or up when the easier position was down
And if we get there
If I ever find someone worth visiting the scarred section of my soul with
Then I think it would be OK if you severed the tourist lines
Because I won’t be foreign to you
And we can let our guards down
Or at least off duty
And you can touch me
Because at that point, you already have.

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