Barricades and Fences

What is this glance and glare that would see you?
I mean not just see as in sight but see as in heart.
That deep unknown longing to see beyond fashion or art.
That deep need to see thee as thou art.
I have searched and thought and perhaps asked.
This my searching found;
This my thinking thought;
This was the answer I came to at the end of the day.
I searched in others till I found it in me,
A deep seated desire to see behind barricades and fences,
A curiosity to see beneath shirts, skirts and cumbrances.
I grew scared thought this was that answer to the call.
“All men are voyeurs. All men love skin.”
My searching scared me.
Then I thought, why should I accept this theories as truth?
When did they build towers and rule?
When did they come here to settle?
The more I pondered the ‘loster’ I grew,
Then I entered into that sacred place naked.
I sought truth as it was, not as I sought her to be.
She came to me bearing torch and victual.
The pursuit of skin is innate she said.
It was instilled with love and care.
It is there that you might understand need.
You need others. You live off of others.
You were built for intimacy.
Skin gives the impression of things as they are.
That, child, is what you seek.
Then why the barricades? Why the fences?
She smiled and said in return.
You can answer that. Cant you?
Walls exist that neighbors you might be.
Should the walls cease, there would be no you and there would be no me.
No end and no beginning. Just endless continuum.
Walls create neighbors, son.

Oluwaseun Emmanuel Okunlola