To feel guilt or disgrace, to lose esteem
or reputation, or be the unfortunate
recipient of circumstances; to be bashful,
to cover oneself; an attempt at modesty;
or surprisingly, synonymous with private parts.
It began this way: when noticed, the nakedness
in Eden yields the first blush, the quick
sewing of leaves, the terror of exposure,
a grown man and a grown woman, birds
of paradise, trepidating to re-assemble
their plucked feathers, but not in the same
configuration, for what human can remember
the garments of innocence? From there, it is
called ignominy, humiliation, or some who thought
such a shame i.e. pity or misfortune, but after
the fig leaves dried and the animal skins tattered,
after the trek east and the settling, the coupling
and multiplying, the uncovering and covering,
it began to abate. New words re-formed
all things from galaxy dust to human skin,
and lovers began whispering to each other
fernsterln, German for entering through a window
and making love to your sweetheart,
while her family in the other room
doesn’t know. Or silm, the Anglo-Saxon word
for the dampness between a woman’s thighs, the same
as for the shimmer of moonlight on water.