Early Morning Ritual... Poem by RIC BASTASA

it will always be my early morning
ritual, waking up ahead of you, dead tired in
bed, and i shall move ahead with
my life, in those usual rituals: put my clothes on,
go to the bathroom, mouthwash, face the mirror,
soap and water, wash my face, twist my cheeks,
check my eyes, and my lips, and tap my head
and brush my hair, and face the mirror again
and i smile.

then back to myself, composed, and stable,
face the monitor, press the letters of the computer keys,
in my usual melancholy, as you are still asleep,
tired in bed, about last night's story,
i move ahead of my life, trying to compose another
line, another poetry, to make me live,
and be alive.