# Indecent Exposure



## Firemajic (Mar 22, 2016)

_I won't expose my secret skeletons
I need their protection
from avaricious vultures
eager to pick fragile bones

I am afraid!
trembling hands of pale bones cling
clutching my yesterdays
recreating memories into palatable lies

Incessantly they call to me
a funeral dirge from my past
sibilant whispers seduce
I open the closet...

They comfort me with loving lies
I confess my sins, begging forgiveness
they grant absolution.. reassign blame
I polish away my guilt

Chalk white, delicate bones
worn thin with my constant
recriminations that abrade
I gag on the pale dust of their deceit..

Cowering deep in the closet
afraid of the glaring light of truth
they tremble! They moan..
I polish.. and polish.. and polish

I leave them in the safety of the closet
I walk boldly in the security of their lies
swallowing my guilt and vomiting grief
knowing I will return, they wait!
_


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## LeeC (Mar 23, 2016)

Wow, you really nailed what nags at all of us with much life experience. 

Don't have the skill to speak to the poetry of it, but the message came through clear and hard.


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## jenthepen (Mar 23, 2016)

This is a masterful poem, Fire lady. 

As Lee observed, the message is clear to all who have suffered the crippling effects of guilt and grief. You have somehow managed to capture the feelings and express them through smooth, strong imagery. More than that, you sum up the only way to deal with such destructive emotions - they can never be eradicated or forgotten, all we can do is learn to live with them and find ways to reduce the pain.

Thank you for posting this, Jul.


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## SilverMoon (Mar 23, 2016)

Double post (a gift of mine) pending a Delete.


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## SilverMoon (Mar 23, 2016)

Firemajic, Whenever I hear "I have skeletons in the closet" I will think of you! You have fleshed this out into a true haunt which is right up my alley. The fragility of secrets, the cement of lies. A closet rumbling. I relate to the fears so strongly I will have to try and step outside of myself so I can be objective, give your poem justice due, then point to questions and suggestions I have. This will be tough because I don't want to touch those "delicate bones" I know so well.

_I won't expose my secret skeletons_
_I need their protection
* from avaricious vultures
eager to pick fragile bones*

Perfect. Vultures, the beast of birds. Since, they're always eager to consume I might use something like - coming for the dive ... to pick (at)..
I am wondering what the Vulture is a metaphor for? I took time with this and came up with the "lie(s).? Then I thought not, reading on. Bring it to light?_

_*I am afraid!*_ You literally point up fear. And I am endeared. 

*trembling hands of pale bones cling clutching my yesterdays *Suggesting a slight re-arrangement of words

[Pale boned hands, tremble, cling and clutch at my yesterdays]_

recreating memories into palatable lies

Incessantly they *call to me
a funeral dirge from my past

*_Deep, complex and compelling. A self-colored past ironically un-earthed by the death song of lies. Fantastic!_

*sibilant whispers seduce *_a great alliteration. And whispers do seduce!
_I open the closet...

They comfort me with loving lies
__*I confess my sins, begging forgiveness
they grant absolution.. reassign blame
I polish away my guilt*
_
I see the Confessional Box. Guilt polished away - What a great contrasting. Guilt so heavy. Polish so light.
_
Chalk white, delicate bones
worn thin with my constant
recriminations that abrade
*I gag on the pale dust of their deceit.. *_What imagery. I imagine and can actually feel my throat in a state.
_*
Cowering deep in the closet   - *_A transition? In third stanza you open the closet. Some segue or a simple "Once again, in the closet.."
_afraid of the glaring light of truth
they tremble! They moan..
I polish.. and polish.. and polish

I leave them in the safety of the closet
I walk boldly in the security of their lies
_*swallowing my guilt and vomiting grief  *The Best of all the best! I wish this were mine.

_*knowing I will return, they wait*! _A true fright.

Thank you. You certainly got the wheels turning. A great piece. SilverMoon :moon:


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## blazeofglory (Mar 24, 2016)

Poetry I feel at times go deeper and deeper into a realm to touch the psyche and it did in my case and I find this poem uniquely appealing


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## kaminoshiyo (Mar 24, 2016)

Firemajic said:


> _I won't expose my secret skeletons
> I need their protection
> from avaricious vultures
> eager to pick fragile bones
> _...



I really liked the creepy imagery with the bones and fingers... The words you use bring a real nice tension; the inner struggle to remain afloat amidst their own decay.


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## Nellie (Mar 25, 2016)

Hey Juls,
Glad to have you back. I don't expect you to "expose your skeletons" because as we all know, we all have skeletons in our closets, don't we?
And those greedy vultures will do anything to pick, pick, pick us apart, exposing all our hearts and desires. But you've kept those truths hidden so well that they're now twisted lies for your protection. Keep them in the closet!  So well done!


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## Pursuit (Mar 25, 2016)

This poem felt like a door in which we open and taking us on a journey your mind or our reflecting of your mind


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## Darkkin (Mar 25, 2016)

Bones break, in the living causing profound pain.  Yet, in spite of the pain, we realize that is the bone, not us, that is broken.  And living bone, heals itself.  If left untreated, the bones callous over, but inhibit function.  Often, these are rebroken to set them right, allowing the pieces to realign connecting the segments into a whole once more.  A process, searing and complex, but it restores the bone, function returning.

Striking parallels with this piece.  Allow the old skeletons in the closet to return to the dust, and by so doing, letting yours heal.

All the best,

- D. the T. of P.B.


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## Firemajic (Mar 28, 2016)

Thanks to all who took the time to read and comment on this poem, it is appreciated..

Lee, jen, SilverMoon, Nellie and DarKKin... That you understood my struggle to express myself... is so fabulous... I felt like I was stumbling in the dark.. Obviously, some memories are too painful, the truth too damaging to examine in the cold light of reality... so, like a Blacksmith, I forged my own truth... hammered those memories, reshaped them into something I can tolerate... and THAT is MY truth... Thank you so much for understanding, It means more to me than you will ever know...


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## Harper J. Cole (Mar 28, 2016)

Congratulations on the win, that was very powerful work!

EDIT: Oops, this wasn't the prize-winning poem, but they're both very good! 

HC


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## Firemajic (Mar 28, 2016)

WROOOOOONG Thread Harrrrper...lol... but thank you sooo much my friend...


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## Harper J. Cole (Mar 28, 2016)

Ah, yes, well it's 1:30am here, time to deactivate this robot for the night ... :hypnotysed:  :sleeping:


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## escorial (Mar 29, 2016)

you write with everything you got....


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## Firemajic (Mar 29, 2016)

Yeah.. hahaa.. restraint is NOT one of my strong points... Thank you, I appreciate ..


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## Nihilist (Mar 31, 2016)

Hit home with me.  Reminds me of confessing sins and secrets.  You have a lot of depth to your work and character.  Do you study psychology and philosophy?  Just curious.


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## Firemajic (Mar 31, 2016)

Nooo... I only struggle to make sense of my own psycho drama...hahaa.. Thank you for reading my psycho babble.... lmao, clever .. yes?


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