Stripped

A Poem by Michelle Gent

A poem about feeling vulnerable. A reoccurring nightmare I used to have while in high school about running naked in the halls. And I always woke up panicked and sweating

Stripped-

Naked I stand for all to judge
With prying eyes and prejudiced minds
Ashamed and embarrassed with nowhere to run
Upon rubber legs, there's no escaping

A moving sidewalk grabs me
I'm taken backwards, under seize
Taken through school corridors
Laughing faces and fingers point
Thwarting from hazed hallways, mocking

Halogen spotlights emphasize my shame
Burning eyes brand my flesh
My muted screams are indecipherable
Going unnoticed

Judgement day has at long last come
I succumb to malicious criticism
Hypocrites on righteous thrones
High and mighty throwing stones

Judge, jury, executioner's
Arrive at predetermined sentence
Based on rumors and superstitions
All at once an over sized gavel slams down
With a verdict of guilty

Deflated dreams of grandeur
I wake disoriented and shaken
Slunk on the bedroom floor and sweating
Only to relieve this metaphor