A Toast Poem by RIC BASTASA

let us have a toast
of the finest
wine

let us cheer ourselves
about
the latest news

the latest development
of our mind
now hardened
to death
of expectations

how we learned
to live
without anything at all

our bare selves
undressed some more
now stripped
of every treasure

we begin to love
nature
we begin to believe
about the
power of starting
from scratch

to know that to
touch
we simply have
to rub our hands

to know that to
see well enough
we need to
close our
eyes and see
the intricacies
of darkness

to know that speak
so well
we need so much
silence

to know that to hear
we must figure
what was not spoken

that to be us
we must forget ourselves
that in irony
lies the strength of our
simplicity