On Being and Nakedness

Thinkers Thoughts on Nakedness

Nothing of any lasting value has ever been accomplished by a naked person.

-- Mark Twain

Run Naked

I run along a lonely road.
The moon and the yard lights compete
to see which casts the sharpest shadow .
I am naked and there is peace.

As I move along in the silence
I feel the air in my face.
The air caresses my body.
There is stillness and there is peace.

Sweat comes.
My shirt is in my hand and
I mop my brow.
There is freedom and there is peace.

My body stirs the pockets
of warm and cool air
as I pass through
I am alone and there is peace.

9/14/98

It's Just a Penis!

It’s just a penis. Men would have you believe that even a momentary glimpse of one from a great distance can cause grown women to swoon, young girls to run off and dedicate their lives to prostitution, and young boys to become homosexuals. But it is just a penis. You can look right at one and nothing happens. It is about as harmful as looking at someone’s thumb. And while it is natural for someone who has rarely or never seen one (and in our unnatural culture that is possible) to be fascinated, perhaps even riveted by the sight, seeing a penis is certainly not harmful or in and of itself sexual. People from cultures where nudity is accepted and more common, get used to seeing them and it quickly comes to mean nothing.