Decoration?

My grandsons

(both)

are decorating their faces

and various other places

of their bodies.

Tattoos staining.

Studs and chains in lips, eyebrows, navels, nipples

and places I don’t want to think about.

Now I know that many cultures

do the very same thing,

and I’m not being judgmental,

just want to have my say.

Although not of the Jewish faith

I still believe as they

that the body is our temple

and marking it is

soiling it.

A ‘sin’.

I think of the millions Nazis Germany disfigured

branding like cattle

and of how it made them feel

so susceptible and defiled.

I strive to understand the expression of today’s youth

but it leaves me feeling cold.

Perhaps I’m just too old?