The Naked Man
begins to journey
by leaving home and tumbling
into an abyss.
 
Free fall becomes him –
long limbs cartwheeling through air
while wife, children, house
“the full catastrophe”
sail upwards into the blue.
 
He’s fool, simpleton
dummkopf, hobo
youngest brother;
underrated
misunderstood …
 
He’ll suffer
strange encounters
pratfalls, stumbles.
 
Somewhere the Devil waits.
 
There are worse things than a rabbit hole.
He’ll have to lose himself
to save his soul.

©Christine Irving 2010, The Naked Man