I Found My Niche Poem by RIC BASTASA

i found my niche
and it is the place of my brothers whose tongues
are as forked as mine
whose words are as sharp as mine and we understand
how to say them
and we say them as we understand them
from the roots
to the stem of our awakenings

some bottles of wine will do
in this little niche
this country of my people
where i am one
of those counted to make a stand
and speak

there will be singing and touching of hearts
through the poems that we compose
and read with each other

there will be this sense of ourselves
back to our own arms
this sense of home
where each of us
are so alive.
we keep the poems in our own language now.

and if you wish, you must learn what each word means.
come, come, you are invited.
leave your slippers
before you enter. There is this burning bush in the middle
of our presence.

it is burning. it is burning.
we are in the midst of this worshipping.

come, come, come, stranger.
there is no reason for fear here.