Naked

Uninhibited, unpolished, and unpublishable,
leaving in the bits that turn cheeks crimson.
The first draft is where I tell you what I feel
before I try showing you through analogy.

I so hope you read between lines
because all my confessions are subtext.
I rewrite lines and recast characters,
my second draft is really the first of a new tale.

Some writers strip away as they edit,
writers proud to show off a bit of skin.
But I’m the type to wear the next size up,
covering up what I was always told to cut.

“People will love you, mixed metaphors and all,”
you say to the writer who frets over uncrossed Ts.
Even if I bared to you my naked body,
I could never promise you my naked brain.