To all the birds that cried in vain

What I am

            A strange thing happened in Censura. A lonely man had walked into the tiny town, naked, and asked for directions to the sea. His stark-naked body was met with screams from women and angry protests from men. Before he had managed to reach the center of the town, he was surrounded, on all fronts, by a fuming mob. “Where is the sea?” he asked calmly, not seeming to notice as his hands were tied behind his back.

            “What is the meaning of this?” A town official questioned him.

            “I do not know what you mean.” The man responded in a soft voice.

            “Just look at you!” the official spat as he took a blanket from a nearby woman. “I want you to wrap this around yourself.”

            “But I am not cold.” The man replied.

            “Do you not see anything wrong with walking into a town like this?”

            “I do not know what you are referring to.” The man looked down at his naked body, with hard eyes, as if he was trying to figure out what could be wrong. “I see nothing wrong.”

            “I’m sure you’ll find something wrong when we execute you tomorrow morning.” The naked man did not seem fazed by this; rather, he looked down at his body once more and shook his head. “Take him away.” The official gestured. The naked man was led to a small stone hut and thrown inside.

            “I do not understand,” the man said looking at himself once again. “Why are they angry at me?” He stood when he heard a knock from outside. “Why am I in trouble?” He took a few steps back, and got into a defensive stance, as the door opened. His body eased when he saw a small woman approach him. 

            “Hi.” She said, being careful not you get close.

            “Do not be afraid of me,” The man said extending a hand. He was surprised when she didn’t take it, but instead sat on the ground by the door.

            “Why do you walk around like that?” she asked.

            “I do not know what you are referring to.” He replied, “Is my form wrong?”

            “Excuse me?”

            “Is the way my body shaped disgusting?” He asked.

            “No, you have a nice body.” She responded nervously, trying to avoid looking directly at him.

            “Than what is the problem?” He began to ask, but stopped when he noticed she was clothed “I see this is a nation that does not take pride within itself.”

            “What do you mean?” she asked, pulling at her dress.

            “Well for starters, you are wearing clothes.” He said, trying not to laugh.

            “We take much pride in ourselves, it is you who should be concerned with pride.” She responded.

            “How can you have pride when you hide the body the gods gave you behind that ankle-to-neck gown?” He laughed out loud.

            “I could say the same thing to you, how can you have pride when you are supposed to protect the body the gods gave you?” She grinned, “How can your body be special when everyone has seen it?”

            “Ah, I see the problem.” He stood and put his hands on his hips.

            “Yes, you are naked, which is wrong.” The girl also stood, putting her hands on her hips.

            “No, that’s not the problem, the problem is that you and your people associate the naked body with sex.” He laughed again.

            “Well, the naked body is only supposed to be seen during sex.” She replied.

            “Is that what you believe or is that what you have been told?” He asked.

            “I strongly believe it, how can a relationship thrive when everybody knows your body?”

            “Hmm, this is a real issue, but I will explain it to you.” He sat back down and leaned up against the stonewall. “There is a difference between seeing a body and knowing a body.”

            “How so?” she asked, sitting down as well.

            “Well, in my village, everyone sees everyone’s body everyday, but even though I see someone’s body does not mean I know it.”

            “I don’t understand.” She cocked her head.

            “When I look at another’s body, I do not look upon them in a sexual manner, nor does anyone else. I judge their pride, bravery and strength based on how much time they have put into sculpting their form. Those with skinny, disproportioned and unclean bodies have no strength or pride in themselves. Those with clean and fit bodies have worked for it, thus showing pride and strength.”

            “I still do not know the difference between seeing and knowing a body.”

            “When I look upon you, I assume that you are ashamed of what your body looks like, but I do not know your body because I have not felt it, smelt it or tasted it. When I see a female’s body, I do not desire it, and she does not desire mine. The way we win each other is by showing our strength in battle or in contests, not by who has the best sex appeal.” He tilted his head to the side and waited for the girl to respond.

            “So you’re saying that a naked body does not represent sex?” she asked.

            “The gods created us to represent an image of them. Do you think the Gods would want to be represented in only a sexual manner? Were we not born naked? The Gods did not intend for us to hide behind materialistic means.” He stood once more. “I will give you an example from a story I was told as a child. When the Gods first created men, they had to decide whether to send him down to earth naked or with clothes. Since they couldn’t decide, they sent down two men, one with clothes and one naked. The clothed man immediately thought he was better because he owned more items than the naked man, who had nothing. Since he thought he was better he forced the naked man to do all the work. He made him build shelter, hunt for their food and defend them against wild animals. The man did not mind doing all the work because his body became so strong that he could fight off anything. On the other hand, the clothed man who did nothing became weak and lethargic because he never moved. One day a god came down to check on the two men. “Tell me, who has worked the hardest?” The clothed man raised a weak hand. “Is this true?” The god asked, looking over to the strong naked man who nodded.”

            “Wait. “The girl said, stopping him. “Why would the naked man say that he didn’t do the most work when he obviously did?”

            “Well, when you look at the two men, one fit and one weak, who do you think did the most work? The naked man knew he had done more and he had his body to prove it, he did not need to say anything.” He smiled, “Shall I continue?”

            “Yes, please.” The girl responded.

            “After looking at the two men he shook his head, knowing that the clothed man was lying. “Alright,” the god said to them, “In order to prove your worth, I would like you to complete some tasks for me.” The two men looked at each other and nodded. “For the first task I want you to carry a large rock from that pile over there to where I am standing.” The naked man picked up a large rock, that must have weighed at least 200lbs, and carried it over to the god with ease. The clothed man looked at the pile of rocks and picked out the smallest one he could find. He lifted it off the ground and tried walking over to the god, but could not walk more than a foot without having to rest. “For shame,” the god said to him. “Alright, now I would like you to take this sling shot and shoot a pebble as far as you can.” The naked man went first again and shot the tiny stone so far that you couldn’t see where it went. The clothed man had never used a sling shot because he had never hunted before and went he shot the pebble it only went a yard before dropping to the ground. “You aren’t proving yourself very well, clothed man.” The god said. “But maybe you can prove yourself now. I have told a bear to attack me, whoever can defend me, will prove to me that they should stay on earth.” The naked man smiled and told the god that he wanted to go first. “No” the god said, “I want the clothed man to go first.” With the decision made, the god called out a bear, which began to run at him full sprint. The clothed man, who had no fighting skills ducked behind a rock, trying to avoid the bear. This angered the god so he told the bear to attack the clothed man. Even though, the naked man disliked the clothed man, he ran to his aid and killed the bear before it could maul him.” He cleared this throat.

            “Why would he help someone he didn’t like?” the young woman asked?

            “Because letting someone die who has never done any harm to you is not the right thing to do. He saved him not only to prove his strength, but also to prove that he was truly good to the gods. The clothed man lost because he was obsessed with the fact that he had something the naked man did not. Clothes. When in fact, he had nothing compared to the naked man. The bare man had virtue, honesty, sacrifice and pride in himself; he had a lot more than the clothed man. Material items aren’t everything. When we start wearing clothes we start comparing ourselves based on things that have no intrinsic value. Our bodies have value, our clothes and items do not.”

            “So you’re saying that in order to really compare ourselves we have to do it naked?”

            “Not necessarily naked, but where you have nothing but yourself and who you are to compare. It is impossible to compare who people really are when they are hidden behind a pile of items.” The naked man smiled. “It is almost morning now, they will be coming for me and I don’t want you to get in trouble for being seen with me.”

            “You’ve taught me a lot.” She smiled, “I don’t think I can just stand by and watch you die.”

            “That’s alright, I should be careful where I walk, I’ve never been around these parts and I don’t know what they believe in.” he responded.

            “What is your name?”

            “Why does it matter?”

            “I would like to know the name of the man who gave me knowledge.” She said.

            “Ah, A name means nothing.” He said.

            “Don’t tell me where you come from you don’t have names”

            “We do, but it’s not important to us.” He began to smile but let it die when he saw her disappointment. “I’ll tell you what, if you take me to the sea, I will tell you my name.”

            “Let’s go now before the others wake.” She stood up and stopped herself before she opened the door. “Will you cover up, just to keep us from being noticed as we walk to the sea?” the young woman asked?

            “If that is your will.” He smiled, standing.

             It hadn’t taken them long to find a spare set of clothes, sneak away from the village and find the sea. Not long after they had arrived, the man had taken off his clothes and now stood by the edge of the water, looking at his reflection. “Should I?” the girl asked.

            “Only if you feel comfortable, my intention is not to push my views on anyone, but it is nice.” He smiled at her.

            “Turn around though.”

            “As you wish.” He replied. When she returned he smiled up at her and she blushed. “Oh no, once you start thinking this is sexual, you have already ruined it. I want you to just look at you reflection and tell me what you see.” The young woman looked down at the water and tilted her head.

            “I.” she stopped, not knowing what to say.

            “Let me tell you what I see then. The way your eyes shine tells me that you are quite content with yourself. By looking at the way your muscles are formed, I can see that you do a lot of hard work as well as care for people. You make for a good warrior in my village and you would certainly win a lot of contests. You were made evenly proportioned, which tells me that the gods really like you. You are taller than the average female, which tell me that you are fit to rule rather then follow. Lastly, you have a very friendly face, good for making allies.” He grinned.

            “I never knew you could tell all that from a body.” She smiled at him.

            “When you get past the things that don’t matter and focus more on what defines us as humans, then it’s easy to tell what really makes us who we are. Would you like to know my name now?” he asked.

            “No, that’s alright. I think I know more about you than what a name could ever tell me.” She replied.

            “Great, let’s take a swim now.” He reached out his hand and smiled as she took it.

            They spent the rest of the afternoon swimming. When they were finished, the woman decided never to return to her own village, but instead went with the naked man to his town. She was welcomed with open arms and showed her strength by entering many contests and fighting along side them in times of war. In the end, she and the man became rulers of the small town, but never let anything material get in the way of how they represented themselves.

 

The End.

           

           

           

            

I woke up this morning wanting to shit rainbows.
Just the thought of the happy diarrhea,
brought a smile to my face.
I climbed out of bed, eyes wide,
like that of a freaky circus clown,
ready to thrust the world,
With my overzealous attitude.

I shoveled sugar-loaded cereal into my mouth hole,
and orgasmed as the hyperness hit me.
Nothing pleased me more,
than the smell of diabetes leaking from my pores.
I finished my breakfast,
with an annoying gulp from my grape juicy juice.
Letting it drip down my chin,
I giggled maniacally as it pooled in my cleavage.

Brushing my teeth made me hot.
Nothing tingled me more than minty paste on my canines.
Every stoke of the bristles,
turned me into a horny rhino with a bad case of sex deprivation.
I didn't bother showering.
There was nothing like giving dirty hugs,
while forcibly spreading my oily skin on society.

I walked to my first class,
smile spread eagled on my face.
Every snarl and spat,
was met with a sexual wink and growl.
Fuck, if anyone was going to ruin my day.

    I spent most of the morning washing my hands. By the time I had finished they were as red as a blushing virgin ordering a medium rare steak from a busty waitress at Hooters. The reason I washed my hands so much was because I had a fear of being contaminated, which alone would keep me virginal. Not that being a virgin was bad, but it seemed like I was the only one. Most of my friends had “popped their cherries” halfway through high school, labeling me the prude of the group.

     I was not a prude. I just wasn’t interested in having sex with most of the students that went to my school. The “swag” that seemed to constantly leak from the manboys made me want to glue my clothes to my body, rather than throw them off. There was only one boy that I had ever considered sleeping with, but he turned out to be gay. Typical.

    Before I went off to college, I had promised my small group of friends that I wouldn’t graduate until I had slept with at least three people. Let’s just say that it didn’t work out. Harvard University was filled with arrogant assholes that would do anything to get ahead. One day I was locked out of my economics class because this snot from Finland thought I had a better idea than he did on how to market pop-up books to children in south-east Asia. I’m pretty sure I was not the only one not lining up to see his junk.

    To be fair most people thought I was a lesbian. In high school, I was teased for dressing like a “skater-boy.” I had never been able to ride a skateboard for more than a foot before falling off, but men didn’t want to be with a girl who dressed like a guy. I did consider being with a girl once, if it would get my friends off my back for being sex deprived. Though this was a good plan, most the lesbians at my school were butch, which meant they preferred someone who looked more feminine than I did. My appearance at Harvard changed from skate punk to cat lady. I thought a corduroy pant mixed with a beige cardigan was a good look at the time. Now that I looked back on it, it was no sexier than wearing a paper bag. Straight or not, my acne-ridden roommate got way more ass than I did.

    What was the big deal with losing your virginity early on anyway? Back in the colonial era, girls would be flogged if they let a man’s sacred juice splash them in between their legs before marriage. Now, if you didn’t lose your fruit before age fourteen you were considered to be a societal freak, which was untouchable during college years. If being a virgin in my late twenties made me untouchable then someone better kill me now before I infect the rest of the human population.