Gymniad XIX - Ritual

I record the process
of aging
before washing,
combing,
or dressing,
satisfied that
vulnerabilities
and insecurities
will be revealed,
and that there is beauty
in truth.

I Have No Color

I have no color,
I have no race.
I have no home
in time or space.
Many disguises
have I worn,
a language spoken,
a place where born.
But I am that
behind all these,
behind the forms
of earth and trees.
I have no name
nor shame,
and I can only be
free.

--Nagna Devidas (Donald Traxler)


मेरे पास कोई रंग नहीं है,
मेरे पास कोई जाति नहीं है
मेरे पास कोई घर नहीं है
समय या अंतरिक्ष में
कई प्रच्छन्न
क्या मैंने पहना है,
बोली जाने वाली भाषा,
एक जन्मस्थान
लेकिन मैं ये हूं
इन सब के पीछे,
रूपों के पीछे
पृथ्वी और पेड़ों की
मेरे पास कोई नाम नहीं है
न ही लज्जा,
और मैं केवल हो सकता है
स्वतंत्र।

Snowman

The snowman would faint
in our heat,
from his head to his
non-existent feet.
We'd rub his snowmelt
all over us,
and run, joyful,
in the wind.

Please do not rely on Facebook for notification of blog posts, as I have decided to discontinue my use of Facebook. Links to all blog entries will be published on Google Plus (G+, "Don Traxler"), on Twitter (@dtrax42), and on Ello (@dtraxler). I can also be reached by e-mail (exolinguist at gmail dot com). Thank you all for your support. The world needs poetry!

Gymniad XVIII - I Have Had Dreams

I have had dreams about being
more naked than I already am.
It seems to be a desideratum,
yet fully out of reach.
I love nature too much
to be a shaver of pubes,
and were I to slough off
this body before its time,
like the skin of a snake,
I'd leave too much undone
for the honesty that I seek.

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.