17 Poem by RIC BASTASA

i guess i am too vain
(handsome and naughty
to their tastes
sweet to their tongues
accommodating to
their mouths
caving in for some
pungent pleasures)
it is love that gets inside
my house
as i open the door and
let it in
too kind, i let love
undress my coyness
dinner is ready
served right above my
abdomen
down the most
wanted
and demanded part,
it is me now
moaning, the sun shining
inside my chest,
as soft fingers roll
like spiders,
i am patient to love
and those love-deprived
all giving to
their fantasies and adventures
i am love
conquered and yet
all over triumphant
to the sound
of the thousand
Arabian nights
love belly dancing
love water to the oasis
camel to the desert
Moon above
the sleepy sands.