Never For Art..... Poem by RIC BASTASA

i do not wish to pretend
that love was there as though
i this frenzy despite the fog
and the mist, i must become
invincible.

we were not born yesterday.
it is all about something else
other than love.
i am still teaching you about
this trick, to be happy even
without having to invoke the
power of love.

the flesh is candid enough to
say that it can be alive and
functioning without the heart.

this way, not having to expect
what love brings, one must settle
for the haven of the flesh, a Persian
cushion, a bouquet of plastic flowers,
a bottle of hard liquor, a toast of
bitter gourd, a shallow conversation,
and this admission that we are
here for a function and never for art.