A Life Of Self-Restraint Poem by RIC BASTASA

RESTRAINT becomes a wall
between us, and i have kept
myself behind this thick wall,

always loving you, but always
denying it,

i cease to be a dropp of water,
neither moss,

every layer of my days
covers this softness making

another rock, and i am fortified
into another roadblock

to my dreams, it is here that
indifference hardens

into a fortress of dignity,
which the ocean even has not fathomed


this is it, this is it,
denial, restraint, punishment, redemption

you drive me into a destiny
you look straight as i look at you

passionately.