A Formation Of One's Personal Philosophy In Life... Poem by RIC BASTASA

sometimes, this is what is the usual
beginning, sometimes,

we are conditioned upon a pattern
of behavior,
upon a common definition of who is
the successful
what is life and how it must be lived
to the fullest...

and not having followed this pattern
we fall into desolation

remember the room where a shadow lurks
projected by a secret lamp of our privacy

somehow, this is another word that signifies
survival, we learn to live life the way
we have it,

our resources are limited of course,
we thrive on what is here, and not on what comes next
we enclose our house with a fence, we define our
parameters of hope and losing

this time, this is another way to summarize,
we begin to learn our own language,
the language of self-determination, about who we are,
and what we can be, based on how we see
ourselves in the mirrors of our very own eyes,

you hear the child say, ' i am a lizard and the ceiling is
created for me'

the other ' i have wings, i am a moth, and i must be careful
about lamps'

and the other, ' i am a fly, spiders cannot be my friends,
neither are the lizards, who are hungry and makes my
body as their food'

'i am a firefly, i shine in the dark' another creature sighs..

there are differences, one must know.
and one must of course, learn to avoid what is harmful
or destructive....

there is more yet, which i have not spoken.
but i need rest. And i turn off the lights
and in my room, beneath the skies, under the moon

i put myself to rest....