Naked and Unashamed

a poem

Photo by Anna Vi on Unsplash

She wanted to be worthy
of finding like a perfect pearl.
She hoped she’d be whole
and holy but not a simpleton girl.

Desiring depth and discovery
inside as well as without,
she journeyed into the world,
attracting a fellow devout.

He wanted to prove he was brave
like a warrior fit for the fight.
He hoped to spot every threat
and vanquish them into the night. 

Desiring to keep what he'd win
by following an old tradition,
he wed the girl in the spring,
determined upon this mission.

Adored and admired they were,
through thick and thin they went,
but time wore down their disguises
of what they thought they'd meant

Until the sight of each other
hinted of all they were not.
"Not worthy of his love," she thought.
And he, "I can't protect as I ought."

So unsure they were of themselves
that they hid heart and soul from each other.
Together but apart, degraded them
to acquaintances instead of lovers.

But the Maker takes every flaw
exposed in the light of His day
and fills the voids with Himself
like gold in cracked vessels of clay. 

Like so, He called the two
to break and give up what they had,
to lay out the shreds of their hope
like clothes unable to clad.

Then they before their Savior became
like those naked and unashamed.
They found they were good for each other,
man and wife, just like He'd named.

Finding they were less than they thought
brought wholeness instead of shame.
Perhaps that's what unions are for.
To strip and redress in His name.

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Note: While prompted by recent events, I don’t know that this poem is autobiographical. Perhaps it is. I don’t know yet. I wrote it because it was in my head. Now I, with you, look at it and ask it what message it has to tell.

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