the naked truth

its body is so gross! so aesthetically unpleasing!
what was i thinking? drinking?
can't believe i actually fingered that thing!

ASAP i want the truth out of my jurisdiction,
i want to put its clothes back on,
for it to willy-nilly disappear into the hell
from which it came from: probably my innards

please do not remind me of its stripteasing
the other night,
do not tell me now that you caught the whole thing
on HiDef,
i have a terrible headache as it is

to successfully blackmail someone
first that sitting duck needs to have serious moola,
needs to have an image to protect 
&, as usual, i don't qualify

help me, instead, to hush it like the church
or politicians,
to drug & bag this thing before it wakes up,
before i seriously start to liken poetry
to stand-up comedy,
to remedial english or assiduity, absurdism 101

we can dump the naked truth not far from here,
thanks to the mortgage crisis
there are plenty of houses to pick & choose from

so don't give me your customary disapproving look,
how many times have i saved your bacon?
besides, it's not like i'm talking about murder
or about illegally dumping toxic waste

thankfully truth's obesity is recyclable, 
is fertilizer, certified inorganic manure 
for the land

you see
it's a good thing we've been working out



c. a. campos, 2011