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There is no privacy.
Sitting in your car
Paused at the signal light
Tapping the fingers of one hand
On the steering wheel in rhythm to
Perhaps music on the radio or CD
You think no one sees the other hand
Rising to your nose-
Fascinating human constructs.
There is no privacy.
Shopping with the family
Pausing to read the label
Pausing to inspect the product
Catching your mirror image
You gaze around looking for lookers
And angling your body
Slightly ever so slightly
You reach down to straighten
Those Lines of underclothing
And you think no one sees you
But it is a store and
It is a holiday weekend
And please stop being naïve
And crass –
Human behavior does have some
Rules which make sense
Use the restroom
There is no privacy.
Especially for political diatribe.
In the restroom.
Touring the nation’s capitol
Is akin to touring the Vatican
Opulence
Marble, brass doors polished,
Cloisonne in rich lapis,
Misty lavender, opalescent
Grandeur circling through the
Mere two centuries of Americana
And the American citizen makes
Judgments
In the bathrooms of the capital
“Can you believe the
Amount of money
Spent in this place?”
Wafts across air molecules between
Stall walls
“Right? They need to stop
Making porcelain frames and
Brass relief sculptures and
Feed the poor of the city!”
Heeled shoes clicking on marble floors
Water washing hands below polished
Brass faucets and gilt encrusted mirrors
“So much waste! (Irony
of place)
Makes me ill to see all this
And know how much poverty there is!”
I keep quiet.
I really want to comment.
I have heard this naïveté before.
Most of this was constructed
Decades ago, even centuries ago,
Inspiration, look for beauty,
Look for opportunity,
Look for a future.
There is no privacy.
Human behavior is perplexing.
Human behavior is complex.
Human behavior is—
Not private.
(CarolAnn Edscorn, Jaffrey NH May 7 2015)
