Ode to Physicality

Physicality is.
                                                                                                                I am.
tactile,
anchoring the world to existence in matter–

The human form
                sitting, legs crossed in high heels on a park bench smoking a cigarette
is a common, mundane, awkward shape–
a rather odd form for an animal
                            standing nonchalantly in a sweatshirt and jeans at a crosswalk,
or pacing briskly across the grass,
Physicality constitutes practical form,
a living thing, with its own rules

cute, pretty, elegant, gawky, plump, energetic, relaxed, straining, powerful, delicate forms

sometimes difficult and slow to change,
often resilient, versatile
with an inherent fragility

An accident of a genealogy, timing, evolution, and luck

and a physical manifestation of personality, lifestyle
the outward aspect of a persona, an identity

                  I am the way that I live- an accumulation of my choices and patterns
                                                                  strengths, weaknesses, preferences
Physical life is
struggle, pain, limitation, nausea, masochism, frustration, denial
sickness, weakness, vulnerability, sensitivity, desire,
                                                                                                gasping for air,
imperfection, uncomfortable curves, insecurity, awkward shapes,
complexities tangled beneath the skin
                                                        you have sent me spinning towards that cliff
  of self-devaluation, anxiety, unhealthy exercise, aversion to food, and insecurity
                                                                                          they are part of me,
                                                                but they are your standards, not mine
Physicality is full of
an innate strength, health, vulnerability, inspiration, quirkiness, grace of function,

                  so stop comparing my physicality to yours, or your favorite actress’s
                                                    don’t compare me to your personal standards
                                                                                          your abstract ideals
                                                                                                          because
Physicality has aesthetic virtue,
                                                                            my physicality is not abstract,
                                                                                              it is this, it is me
harmony in motion,
in form,grace,function,
                                          and I have my own standards that I hold up to reality,
                                                                                                  my own ideals–
                                                                                            I can find in myself
                                                              flaws, beauty, disappointment, and joy
                                                          without your degrading verbal impositions
poetry of form,
simplicity of being
                                                                                and whatever my plans are,
                                                                                        this is what I am now

                                                          and I love             

my physical-form,living-existence-being.

the form, motion,

running-climbing-drumming-singing-strolling-sitting-sleeping-painting-jumping-flying-falling-rolling-laughing-dancing
                                                                            those are the physical things
                                                                                                                I am
                                                the beauty of physicality.