Nothing renders me naked the way
A simple touch
Or smile so subtle in its place
Slides in.
Slow movement misplaces monologues,
Disrobing my identity –
I stand bare
Skimming the boundaries of language.
No semiotic armor bracing me.
No words to wrap in their loving embrace.
sometimes i lose track of myself between the images,
the pages of magazines,
the flickering rectangles of film,
the point where sounds blend together.
i try to squeeze my way through this space
without leaving myself behind.
i don’t want to be moulded after another.
but i am
caught in the dichotomy between self and other
without a boundary that i can touch.
i can’t even hold myself together without
words and culture to wrap around me.
colorfully, fashionably hidden
like a chameleon.
1998