I Can Be Disastrous.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

do not attempt
to wear my shirt

it may be
calamitous

do not steal my hands
it will be disastrous

for what you desire
to hold
shall turn to stone

what you kiss
shall turn into a snake

and it will bite you
as it has bitten me

many times have i suffered
escaped death like a magician

what you eat
shall turn into wind

how can you be satisfied?
you shall be in
eternal thirst and hunger

no one has the power
to fulfill your desires

or your dreams or your
queries

do not borrow my pair of
shoes
it can burn your feet
it may cut your toes
into pieces

by now you must have
wondered
how i survive all my
years

you see it is not easy
never been smooth and easy

i never lived a life like
that
and you may never believe
it

now that i am old
and shall die in any hour
of my choosing

burn everything i leave
behind
forget every memory that
i have given you


my shoes, my shirt, my hands
my mind, my dreams,

do not forget my eyes
do not be misled by its visions
burn them thoroughly and
throw all the ashes to the
far ocean
of this earth

do not fish there
it can still be disastrous.