Written after a visit to the art gallery
Naked I sleep, and naked I rise;
Naked I eat my toast;
Naked I look through a journal or book,
Naked I fetch the bills in the post.
Nakedly nakedly nakedly naked
Nakedly nakedly nake.
I stride, nakedly, through scenes allegorical,
Nakedly strumming my lute;
I relax nakedly on the stream in my coracle,
Nakedly playing my flute.
Nakedly nakedly nakedly naked
Nakedly nakedly nake.
Naked I lead the troops into war!
Nakedly naked I am in defeat;
And sometimes, for no reason at all, I walk naked
Through the non-naked crowds in the street
Nakedly nakedly nakedly naked
Nakedly nakedly nake.
Not enough people do things naked. Or, at least, they don't do enough things naked. I can understand that in a place like Melbourne nudity, or taking off one's clothes at all,is probably seldom practiced. Such a shame.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Naked war sounds like fun.
Yep.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Melbournians made up for it somewhat when professional fraud - ahem, sorry, conceptual artist Spencer Tunick visited us a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteYeah thanks, Tim, I wanted to look at tits. Not quite the image I had in my mind's eye - I much prefer mine.
ReplyDeleteYou have an incredible memory for your previous posts.
She's only topless, not naked.
ReplyDeleteThe painting, that is, not Nails.
Although, Nails could easily be topless or naked, how the hell would I know?
ReplyDeleteIt's rather cold here today, so neither topless nor naked anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteTerrible risk of sunburn.
ReplyDeleteIt's an artistic representation of Liberty, so I think she's acting like a libertine.
ReplyDeleteOne of the captions to a painting I saw yesterday was interesting. The painting in question was some early-Christian story about Christians being tied up in chains before being fed to the lions in the arena. Anyway, the picture had two Christians - naked, in chains - lying on the floor of a gaol cell. The caption read:
"Naked women in chains was a subject which held a peculiar fascination for ___ ____ and he returned to it repeatedly durng his career."
I wonder why that could be?
This artist would have made an excellent artist for the Conan the Barbarian books.
This artist would have made an excellent artist
ReplyDeleteNot one of my best sentences!
This poem should be on the syllabus for year 10 English.
ReplyDeleteGod knows what they'd make of lines like 'nakedly playing my flute'...!
ReplyDeleteProbably what the rest of us did.
ReplyDeleteI suppose it depends whether it was a transverse or a fipple flute.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think it would matter.
ReplyDeleteSir Thomas Beecham once said of a rather poor regional cellist from Brisbane:
ReplyDelete"My dear. You have between your legs an instrument that can bring joy to millions of people. Yet all you can do is sit there and scratch it."
Sir Thomas Beecham, evidently a model of tact!
Oh, and also, Sir Eugene Goossens, who for a while conducted Australian orchestras, once got barred from this country for carrying some porn mags with him. Caused a big scandal at the time, apparently.
ReplyDelete11.22 would change things somewhat.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that we are a country that banned Lady Chatterley - not for the appalling writing but for the appalling sex scenes.
A bit off topic, except it does have to do with nakedness, I was surprised to read this in Slate's "Explainer" section last week, in answer to the question as to whether it is a bad idea for parents to let their kids see them naked:
ReplyDelete"Chances are good that a 2- or 3-year-old won't form any lasting memories of seeing his parents in their birthday suits.
Seeing your parents au naturel can be confusing for older kids who are more curious about bodies and sexuality. A child might wonder why a parent's genitals look different from his own; he might feel inferior by comparison, or jealous; and he might be a bit frightened of the size and hair. Too much exposure might also overstimulate a child, stirring up sexual excitement along with Oedipal anxiety."
I don't think whoever wrote this has an appreciation of just how America-centric it is. Generations of Japanese and Scandinavian kids have not had Oedipal anxiety by seeing their parents' pubic hair or penis.
I think the nudism movement in the West is pretty weird, with its idea that you can sensibly be naked all day; and it is not as separated from sex as its proponents proclaim.
The Japanese and Scandinavians, on the other hand, do genuinely have a way of separating nakedness from sex that seems quite healthy.
Anyone for a Japanese or Scandinavian raw fish banquet sans vestments?
ReplyDeleteMish: I agree. I will place this commendable lyric ballad on the syllabus for next year.
The slogan for a certain Balmain (Syd) gym is "Look Better Naked". I haven't taken them up on this yet, but it has worked for my fellow flute-playing, throat-singing chained-up Kung Fu fighter.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. I don't think any of my neuroses or possible fetishes have anything to do with my parents' fondness for hanging [literally, age is an awful thing] about sans clothing. Nor do I ever recall being jealous of either my mother's or my father's bits. One learns quickly to look people in the eye when speaking to them but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteIn case you wondered, the reason my parents maintianed their nude habits beyond their children's infancy [aside from enjoyig being naked] is because my terribly rational father was concerned that we would develop complexes if what was once normal suddenly ceased to be okay.
As if kids would care if they see their parents naked! What a question to ask!
ReplyDeleteI's one thing at two, quite another as a teenager when you have to make sure that your parents are clothed before your friends can come into the house...
ReplyDeleteI do hate the phrase 'birthday suit'. So prudish.
It's clever, but. There's an A D Hope poem that ends with the line 'As first a poet buttoned on his skin'.
ReplyDelete