A Sunday Poem by RIC BASTASA

4: 30 you rise
and kneel down
you chant the rosary
and mumble
your prayers

i hear vespers
oh, whispers
of your secret
wishes

i cover my ears
with this
thick blanket

then you leave
for church
and you find
it unnecessary
whether i must
go with you

5: 57
silence reigns
i cannot bear it
i turn on the radio
the news start
bombarding

about the flood
the storm
the waves that
roar of evacuation
and some deaths

i turn off the radio
i turn it on gain
i try the hip hop
on another station

i dance i sweat
things out from
my system i filter
what must come
in

i open the windows
and door to let light
come
in

i am ready now
to face the day
on a washed face
and brushed teeth
without breakfast
and coffee

let them see me
clean and happy
i am on a hunger
strike i am on
a strike for life

i take my walk
without you
i pretend that
this world is one
lonely man and
he does not wish
to talk

like the trees
like the pavement
like the leaves
that now with the
strong wind
keep on falling
blown away

yet uncomplaining

this is sunday
this is still a very lonely day