Didn'T You Notice? Poem by RIC BASTASA

when you spit fire
i remain as the cool water of the pond
i am still the lotus there
undisturbed by the mud
and the ripples of the frog
and the braggings of the bug

when you are angry
i keep my happy disposition, no awry
and show my kindness
to you.my Highness

when you are agitated
i simply mimic you
with a sense
of humor

all in the spirit of fun
as you sling me with
brimstones

so my poetry is bland
and i am bald
and aging and old
like a man
half-dead
lacking the final signature
of the earthworm?

i don't mind really
i don't write for praise
neither for condemnation
i have long told you that

i write because i feel the urge
to write
and i get this intellectual ejaculation
by the constant rubbing
of my intellect to
the images which are so vivid
and sexy
and too alluring to be ignored

i write because i must
because i am still here
with no plans for
leaving or for anger

i like to hug you
like a mother
(for in truth i am younger
than your youngest son
and more handsome than
your previous lover
or husband)

but you push me away like
a dirty beggar
and you utter words
unfit for a poetess
or for any decent
grandmother

(it is funny really)

let me write some more
lines without hurting you
these are for me
for her and for my friends
and if you still fume like
a volcano

for God's sake
please erupt now
while i am still here
i like to see
some pyroplastics
and ash and lava
and explosions

but what i like more
is the scene after
your volcanic eruption

the calmness of the lake
that your fury has
by force of nature created