Civilisation

The myth
Underlying assumption
Of civility, civilisation
City or a nation

States —
The individual belongs to
Is a part of

Something
That something — an abstraction —
Precedes, exists before
And outside
The individual

This myth
Simultaneously —
Conjures an individual
And concretises the abstraction — city —
Nation, civilisation
As actual, real
And existent

Without this myth
What exists
Is community — not as abstraction —
But as nature

Where individuals — organisms —
Engage and interact
Naturally
Unabashedly

Secured from elements
In holes, nests, caves
Without curtains
Between, among
And around them

Without being curtailed
From nature
Community —

Where toiletting, showering
Undressing, sex, masturbation
Farting, sneezing, suffering
And dying

Have not yet
Been appropriated
Regulated, civilised
Privatised or condemned

And installed
Within the organism
As operating principle
Of shame
And privacy

Making every aspect, each sight
Of an organism’s anatomy
Its every conceivable activity
A fetish — something —
To sanitise, hide
Take pride in
Or be shamed about

From hair, to toenails
Nipples, breasts, bellies
Genitals
Skin

Saliva, faeces
And blood

All cordoned, behind curtains
Curtailed — walled
Cut off
Fetishised — privatised

By the abstraction — civilisation —
City, nation, culture
Country, religion
Family

All
In opposition
To community

While assuming
Its role

Wearing
Its name