The Prohibition Against Us

As kids our noses bled on winter’s dry indoor heat
and then ran with snot in the overpowering cold.
As teens, we couldn’t find a good place for our hands.
They flapped in public; in private we stuck them
into our pants until we were caught and shamed
for that too.  As adults we hold our tongues and minds
tightly, feeling free to loose them only when we lose them.
There’s a prohibition against us being ourselves
in every place we are.  No wonder we’re sneaky
with our bodies, knowing that too many disappear
completely into the folds of this smothering world.