Although I very much <br />appreciate it <br />you in a welder’s mask <br />but precious little else <br /> <br />your nakedness <br />totally unafraid <br />of flame or spark <br />as you solder bits of scavenged metal <br />to create impossibly beautiful metal men <br /> <br />sentinels to guard <br />our bedroom <br />as if we were <br />the tomb of Tutankhamen. <br /> <br />You take <br />the mask off <br />and your hair unfurls like a red banner <br />laugh <br />and tell me to: “F**k off! ” <br /> <br />You love <br />the implements of your art <br />the sheer physicality of it <br />whether it be <br /> <br />welder’s torch or chisel or chainsaw. <br />Chainsaw? <br />You rev it up! <br />(in the buff) <br />- totally unguarded - <br />tell me <br />to shut up <br />stand still <br /> <br />as you shape <br />(oh the roar of the naked blade) <br />some poor tree <br />into a fantastically futuristic <br />portrait of me <br />in wood. <br />I catch <br />my breath <br />and have to admit: <br />“It’s good...it’s more than good! ” <br /> <br />and I <br />am no prude <br />but <br />why <br />do you have to do <br />it <br />in the nude!<br /><br />Dónall Dempsey<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-appreciation-of-the-nude-in-art/
