AFFECTATION

There’s no cause for hesitation
In embracing affectation.
We say we act, that we behave,
But truer said is we are slave
To act and to behave such that
We seem to wear the cloak and hat
That we think others want to see.
Few of us are free to be
Unadorned, undecorated,
For fear of being isolated.

Eden was the first place we
Felt shame at nature’s nudity.
God Himself demanded drapes
For us, but not for lesser apes.
They were free to flaunt and flash
And strut naked unabashed.
They went about just as they were,
Made such that it would not occur
To live to please another’s gaze.
Not Eve and Adam—each appraised
The other as judgmental sort
Keen to spot one’s falling short
Of…neither knew what standard they
Were meant to meet, what rules obey.
They only sensed that their companion
Saw someone they’d soon abandon. 

If only they had thought to ask…
Instead, they donned both clothes and mask,
And from beginning, sought to hide
Most of what they feared inside.

In time, we added to the layers
That dress us up as good portrayers
Of what we’ve always just supposed
Unnamed betters have imposed,
All because that first sad pair

Misread one another’s fear
Of being somehow insufficient
As judgment other was deficient.
Adam, Eve—their affectations
Clothe all future generations.

Written February 3, 2023
©2023 Lawrence Helms