The Condom is the Conundrum(A Poem in Many Voices)

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They said in school, in chalk and charts,
"Be smart, be safe, protect your parts."
We giggled then, too young to see
The veil between "just you and me."

We laughed at packs with names like "Fire,"
"Ultra Thin," "True Love," "Desire."
The wrapper popped — a rubbered rite,
A killjoy in the heat of night.

My friend Funny voice:
“You got one?” “Yeah.” “It’s old.” “It’s fine!”
We fumble through the great design.
It squeaks, it slips, it feels like doom —
Mood-killer king of every room.

But pause — beneath the clumsy jest,
A softer truth begins to rest.

My poetic and Romantic voice:
He touched her face, she touched his hand,
Two people trying to understand.
Not just protection, but a vow
To guard the love they’re building now.

Yet love’s not always soft and pure —
Some use, discard, repeat, endure.

My Dark voice:
A stranger’s name, a motel bed,
A life unlived, a word unsaid.
The condom shields, but also shames —
A whisper stitched with hidden names.

My local Youth perspective:
The kids were told it keeps you "clean,"
But no one said what love might mean.
A latex layer, thin and true,
Can’t block what feelings wander through.

My Religious voice:
The sermon thunders: “Do not stray!”
Yet every saint has feet of clay.
Condemned for choosing care and sense,
While silence builds the consequence.

My girls pacca Feminine voice:
She carries one — she knows the cost
Of trusting men, of power lost.
They joke, “You plan too much, too fast,”
But she’s survived love that couldn’t last.

So what is it — this little thing?
This circle small, this rubber ring?
It’s not just sex, it’s not just fear —
It’s who we are when we draw near.

A joke, a bond, a line, a shield,
A battlefield where truth's revealed.
We laugh, we cry, we judge, we run —
Yet all must choose, or come undone.

For in its stretch, we see our flaw —
Our lust, our loss, our need for law.
It’s light and dark, it's safe and fun,
A thousand voices wrapped in one.

The condom is the conundrum.
Thin as breath, and twice as true.
It guards the body, stirs the soul —
And leaves us naked, whole by whole.



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