Commentary on Gymniad - I

What I did not understand fifty years ago was the Patriarchy and its strategies of power. Power always seeks to perpetuate itself. The Patriarchy is a house of cards, and it knows it. The Patriarchy, as we know it, is a tenuous, easily collapsed structure, supported by the following "cards:" 1) Social, political, and economic dominance of the male; 2) The establishment of monotheistic religion in which the "only true God" is "male;" 3) Repression of women and all of their rights, which are, of course, human rights; 4) Suppression of all expressions of the natural order, including equal rights (and equal respect) for women, freedom of the body, and natural nudity.

With regard specifically to 4), it is important to note that the Patriarchy only supports nudity that is exploitive and debases women; nudity that is natural, non-sexual, an expression of freedom and equality, and does not exist for the gratification and enrichment of the Patriarchy is, in most places, strictly forbidden.

If one or more of these "cards" is seriously challenged, the Patriarchy will fall. Let us challenge them all.

Gymniad - I

I remember, more than half
a century ago,
wondering why we humans
couldn't allow our bodies
to be seen.
I just couldn't
understand it.
But now,
more than fifty years later,
it turns out that
we couldn't
because we didn't.

In the words of a famous anthropologist,
"There are many ways
of being human."

In the words of a famous,
perhaps mythical,
"brujo,"
"Choose a path
with heart."

In the words of
an obscure poet,
"Stay naked,
if you can."

Os restos

[portunhol surenho)

O asado,
el uso de la maca,
la sherba mate,
unas pocas palavras
como "gurí", *
estos son os restos
da cultura indígena.
A pessá de sus miles
de ferramentas esparcidas
ao longo da costa,
non se ve ninguém.
Tenemo que lembrá-nos
que somo la causa
da ausencia d'eles
de acá.


Remnants

The barbecue,
the use of the hammock,
the ma-te herb,
a few words
like "gurí," *
these are the remnants
of the indigenous culture.
In spite of their thousands
of tools scattered
along the coast,
we see no one.
We have to remember
that we are the cause
of their absence
from here.

* gurí = crianza, child

Hot Ashes

Naked, shoveling hot ashes
from the fireplace
into a metal bucket,
I prepare
for another day
of magic.

The Muse - II

The Muse is a powerful distraction.
She does not keep your feet
on the ground--
but she keeps them close
to the fire.

Brillo y contraste

Brillo y contraste
son los ajustes que hago.
Luz, sombra, y forma--
¿qué más hay?

Brightness and contrast
are the adjustments that I make.
Light, shadow, and form--
what else is there?

Robbed

The neighborhood I grew up in
has been taken over by crack dealers.
The religion I was raised in
has been taken over by pedophiles.
The city I was born in
has felt foreign for fifty years.
The country I was born in
is a mockery of itself,
though it is trying to survive.
I am here, in another hemisphere,
in a gracious and welcoming country,
but the truth is that
I have no home.

I have been robbed,
slowly, for many years,
until now I am like
Candide, watching as a heretic
is burnt at the stake.
in the "best
of all possible
worlds."

Do you think
that you
are different?