Exposure: A Sonnet

Exposure: A Sonnet

By Elisabetta Lucia Portinari

If I could strip away my rosy flesh,

And leave myself without my body’s shield,

If I could cut away my muscles fresh,

And to a life of stillness henceforth yield,

If I could saw away my fragile bone,

And leave myself without a leg to stand,

To give away all which I call my own,

Exposing every organ, cell and gland,

And when I cannot hide, nor truth prevent,

Will my heart be caressed, or rudely rent?