My Friend How Can You Ever Trace Me In That Labyrinth? Poem by RIC BASTASA

in that labyrinth once you saw me as the minotaur
i went into hiding and changed my form
i became a faun, and when you found me with my horn and tail
and lots of hair and goat-like musk, i changed again
into another mythological animal,
a dragon spitting fire,
a centaur, a snake with eight heads,
a dinosaur, a sphinx,
a lion, an eagle,
whatever form i assumed, you still find me,
and sometimes i wonder how have you been following me
through and through in this labyrinths of my hiding
and concealment in masks and names
myriad, escapes and exits,

despite all these, you still find me.
i know one thing, but i will not tell you.

The riddle of the Sphinx
you must know, if solved, crumbles my existence
into ash,

or like a leaf, under too much scorching,
crumples me into dusts.

Please do not tell me the answer.
Make me live a little longer inside your innocence.
Let the chaos stay.