Do Not Answer Using A Rope Poem by RIC BASTASA

the one you talk with
has many questions and you
focus on his dimension

trying to figure out what answers
are desirable for as you know
people love to hear answers
that they expect

and so your question is:
what answers does this guy want to hear?

(do not figure out the truth
he may not like it
follow his questions like a river
and you must put the fish that
that river likes

or just turtles
or just the messy mossy ones
to make things cooler)

what you do is know more about him
his past, his biases, his likes and dislikes
and hence when the first question is asked

answer right away,
the one that does not hurt
like his past,
the one that he likes most in the future
the one that makes him happier
or let us say, the one that makes his life
more livable

(do not believe that misery seeks misery)

(haven't you heard that he attempted to
cut his life last year?
we know that story,
his sins, his failures, and disappointments)

do not answer using a rope
do not think like himself.