Gymniad - IV

Enforced clothing
made us
fit minions
and suitable drones.
As a uniformed army
of captive consumers,
we became
cogs in the lie
of our servitude
and enforcers
of division
and nature's
destruction,
for the greed
of a few.

When we accepted
body-shame,
we became
slaves.

Gymniad - III

The first fig leaf,
when fastened into place,
shadowed the sun,
and eclipsed truth.

The first woman and man,
in abandoning their nature,
abandoned all nature.

Nature thus abandoned
and distorted,
paved the way
for Cain,
for greed,
and for war.

The abandonment
of nature
is called
civilization.

Gymniad - II

Nudity is life,
it is consciousness,
strength, and health.
Nakedness is vulnerability,
but it is also bonding
and mutual respect.
Nudity gives clarity
of thought,
lack of pretension,
and sensitivity
to truth.
When clothes and
social rank
are gone,
equality
becomes possible,
unity becomes possible,
love, respect,
and compassion
become possible.
In a natural state,
we become sensitive to
and respectful of
nature.
Nudity is truth,
and the enemy
of lies.
Nudity is freedom,
equality, and
tolerance.
Most of all,
nudity is
natural.

For all of these reasons,
nudity has been
denied to us.
We must be reminded,
every day,
that we are not
free.

We Cannot Say

We cannot say
from where we've come
or where we're bound.
That which is lost
will yet be found.
Above this earth
we take our flight,
into an endless,
starry night.

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