A Secret....... Poem by RIC BASTASA

there is an appetizer
if you only know if you only

know her or me or the other waiting
on the other side of this street or

that window, no, it is not chili,
not even curry, it is not physical

it is something beyond good appearances,
and this makes you agile like a gazelle

if you have seen one, or felt it, or
simply disregarded it, like the way you

dismissed a silly idea, a rock which you
have thrown, and has become its own

kingdom. There is this taste for the
ostracized salt, this bland bitterness

this flint and prank this unacceptable
proposition which you hide tenderly and

keep inside a music box, which makes
music for you alone. A secret.

more than delicious, it keeps your
soul burning, no smoke, no color,

A secret. It does not put you to sleep.
It burns your heart. It makes you alive.


it is good, and it is all yours alone.
it is a secret. Let yourself not know it.