Gymniad XVII - The Man in the Mirror

The man in the mirror
has a very long past,
a very real present,
and hopefully,
a very healthy future.
He also has a mission,
and he will have succeeded
when our natural state
has become normal,
and you are no longer
shocked
by mere nudity.

The Five Most-Visited Poems in the Blog

Here are the five most-visited poems in the poetry blog, since its inception, with numbers of visits and posting dates:

Prayer for the World     110     19 Jul 2017 (expressly placed into the public domain)

Arcanum Zero, the Fool (Ad Hoc I)     96     30 Sep 2017

Rumer     84     8 Oct 2017

I Will Be Guided     82     13 Oct 2017

Happy Birthday     79     5 Oct 2016


In general, I agree with your choices, though I think Arcanum Zero made the list because of wishful thinking (on your part, and on mine). Prayer for the World is the only poem, if I'm not mistaken, that I've placed into the public domain, so I obviously like it. Rumer is one of my favorites. I Will Be Guided is the only one on the list written by my alter ego, Nagna Devidas. Happy Birthday, the only poem not written in 2017, was written on my mother's birthday in 2015, and posted when the blog was started, in Oct 2016. For a long time no poem in the blog exceeded it in number of visits, but as the blog's readership grows, the numbers are getting bigger.

As a holiday gift, I'll re-post all five of these poems today. You needn't thank me; it is I who need to thank you, for your wonderful support.

Gymniad XVI - This Body Is an Abstraction (+ ptl, es, fr)

This body is an abstraction,
a map of pleasure and pain
and experience of life.
It contains all possibilities
and potentialities,
both realized and not.
This body does not belong
only to me,
but to a species,
a symbol of the universe,
a figment of imagination,
a denizen
of the stars.

[portunhol surenho]

Este corpo é uma abstrasón,
um mapa de prazer y dor
y experiencia de vida.
Contém todas as possibilidades
y potencialidades,
as realizadas y non.
Este corpo non pertenece
só a mim,
senon a uma espécie,
um símbolo do universo,
um produto de imaginasón,
um habitante
das estrelas.


[español]

Este cuerpo es una abstracción,
un mapa de placer y dolor
y experiencia de la vida.
Contiene todas las posibilidades
y potencialidades,
las realizadas y no.
Este cuerpo no pertenece
solo a mí,
sino a una especie,
un símbolo del universo,
un producto de la imaginación,
un habitante
de las estrellas.


[français]

Ce corps est une abstraction,
une carte du plaisir et de la douleur
et l'expérience de la vie.
Il contient toutes les possibilités
et les potentialités,
réalisées et non.
Ce corps n'appartient pas
seulement à moi,
mais à une espèce,
un symbole de l'univers,
un produit de l'imagination,
un habitant
des étoiles.

Gymniad XV (updated, with translations)

This body is itself my clothing,
there is no need for pride or shame.
I have worn others,
but am still the same.
It is old,
but still it serves,
I give it comfort
a soul deserves,
and health and light
until the coming
of the night.
For another
it will be
put away
at the coming
of the day.


[español]

Este cuerpo es en sí mismo mi ropa,
no hay necesidad de orgullo o vergüenza.
He tenido otros,
pero sigo siendo el mismo.
Es viejo,
pero aún sirve,
y le doy la comodidad
que un alma merece,
y salud y luz
hasta la llegada
de la noche.
Por otro
será cambiado
a la llegada
del día.


[portunhol surenho]

Este corpo é ele próprio a minha roupa,
non hay necessidade de orgusho ou vergonha.
Eu he tenido outros,
mas ainda sou o mesmo.
Isso é vesho,
mas ainda sirve,
eu le doy conforto
que un alma merece,
y saúde y luz
até a chegada
da noite.
Para outro
será cambiado
na vinda
do dia.

Little Egos

I see little egos
driving around in cars.
What will we do
when we are finished
with the ego?

Nagna says: Try it!

--Nagna Devidas (Donald Traxler)


मैं थोड़ा उदास देख रहा हूँ
कारों में चारों ओर चला रहा है
हम क्या करेंगे
जब हम समाप्त हो जाते हैं
अहंकार से?

नग्न कहते हैं: कोशिश करो!

Gymniad XIV

I am more than this body,
but it's a start
on the road to openness
and a new humanity.
Nudity brings honesty,
tolerance,
and human bonding.

We have to start
somewhere.

Sunning on the Way to Christmas

I turn words over in my mind
like shells on the beach.

Looking at the ice plant,
known in these southern latitudes
as "rayitos de sol,"
I think of one of my
earliest memories,
walking on a leash
that was held by my mother,
fascinated by ice plant
that was fascinating the bees.
I still remembered that day
sixty years later,
and so did my mother.
The color of these
"rayitos de sol"
is exactly the same,
but there are
fewer bees.

I couldn't speak even one
language properly that day
on the leash, and now
I speak many, because
something excited my curiosity
when I was five.
Don't know how many languages
I learned, because those from Before
began to leak through
like rayitos de sol.

And the lives that went with
those languages
(as some colors go with others
and do not clash)
were what?
Rayitos de sol?

Perhaps.
Rayitos de many things,
de pena, de amor,
de curiosidad,
de erudición,
del puro placer
de este mismo sol
que, tal como las flores,
es igual.

In San Diego, or Alexandria,
in Italy or the south of France,
on a beach in Brazil,
or Polynesia,
or here,
the little rays
of the sun
are everything.