Ed Northen

NAKED ME

I am standing
Naked
Looking into the mirror

Trying to connect
My soul
With this body

There seems to be
No union
Between the two

My minds
Perception
Of who I am

While admittedly flawed
And convoluted
Is a work of art

Sculpted into
Beauty
Appreciation
Love

Starring at my bones
As my ribs stick out
Of my thin body
I do not see it

This deeply lined face
Staring back
Is not who I am

Nor does my pale skin
Embody my vigor
For life

Youth has fled
Into the late middle years
I am in-between
More than half baked

I have worked
To resuscitate
Spent naked corpses

Their ribs protruding
From thin
Vacant shells

Tried to resurrect them
With a fury of skills
But seldom does life return

So they lay
A non entity
Mouths gaping
Soul departed

The mirror does not lie
Entropy pursues me
Soon I will be extinct

I muse over
This future corpse
Staring back
Pondering

When I am spent
Naked
Laying on the floor
Mouth gaping

It will be
With wonder

Ed Northen is a Retired Fire Captain /Paramedic who worked in the field for the last 34 years. He lives in Hailey Idaho, where he pursues his passions of environmental stewardship, hiking, backpacking and currently working as a fly fishing guide. He has been writing poetry for eighteen years, has been published in Ariel, Chimera, and Poetry Works and reads at local poetry gatherings.