Because life's too short to blush, br I keep my blood tucked in. br I won't be mortified br by what I drive or the flaccid br vivacity of my last dinner party. br I take my cue from statues posing only br in their shoulder pads of snow: all January br you can see them working on their granite tans. br br That I woke at an ungainly hour, br stripped of the merchandise that clothed me, br distilled to pure suchness, br means not enough to anyone for me br to confess.I do not suffer br from the excess of taste br that spells embarrassment: br mothers who find their kids unseemly br in their condom earrings, br girls cringing to think br they could be frumpish as their mothers. br Though the late nonerotic Elvis br in his studded gut of jumpsuit br made everybody squeamish, I admit. br Rule one: the King must not elicit pity. br br Was the audience afraid of being tainted br --this might rub off on me-- br or were they--surrendering-- br what a femme word--feeling br solicitous--glimpsing their fragility br in his reversible purples br and unwholesome goldish chains? br br At least embarrassment is not an imitation. br It's intimacy for beginners, br the orgasm no one cares to fake. br I almost admire it.I almost wrote despise.