Politics Poem by RIC BASTASA

in this country of mine
there is so much politicking

they want to know my color
they want me black
pure black
the other side wants me to be white
unadulterated white

i tell them i want to have no color at all
i just want to be myself
like a neutral transparent rain water
and all of them are angry
i cannot please everybody i said
but they do not listen

they put politics in the pulpit
in the market even in the cemetery
they put politics in the air and in the water
and in the soil
and even in the sub-soil
the worms are getting political too
and even the hawks and finches

the pebbles have no choice
but to go political too
they are now in disagreement with the river
and the bamboo trees

there is chaos in the mountain
the waterfalls rage
and then politics eventually destroys the
ecosystem
and the heavens and the purgatory

now there is only hell.

this morning they put politics as breakfast on my table.
i decided finally not to eat any.