The Naked Parade - 1958

It's late - the crickets and salsa bugs fill the night with a rhythm
that pulls at my aura, loosens my molecules
and reminds me.

I remember, what, fifty years ago now?
Wow.
Fifty years ago.

Girl Scout camp - past lights out - bed check over.
One flashlight shines, and the girls who want to play
parade naked in the spotlight, one at a time,
to the accompaniment of muffled giggles.

I'm pretending to be asleep,
too embarrassed to show my unformed-as-yet body.
Years later I'll be the skinny-dipping queen,
the naked dancer under the full moon...
But this night, age eleven,
I've got my whole self shut down tight -
eyes clamped shut, I'm curled in fetal position under covers,
hardly daring to breathe,
afraid of this next part of life.

Then the counselor's footsteps -
everyone diving under their covers, flashlight clicked off -
and it's over.
I can breathe.

Oh, all these fifty years later,
I see I've survived,
and I've learned a few things -
like how totally cool it is sometimes
to be naked.