She Tells The Truth And No One Believes... Poem by RIC BASTASA

our belief has been
that i dying
we conquer death
that in giving
we conquer greed
that in losing ourselves
we find ourselves
at the end...,

(in the ironies
however, of life we
thrive;

upon the hunger of
others we are blind
we keep water away
from the thirst of
the masses
we progress because
we oppress
and from behind every
fortune that we amass
a crime is hidden)

we continue with our
solemnities:
we support charities
with publicity
we like our faces
seen on TV
we hug a child to
convince them of our
love for the helpless
and the new
we like our names put
in the posterity of
all those walls
we like a street named
for us
we put a pillar in society
bearing our ancestry...

comes now Janus
double-faced
comes now the diamond
of multiple behaviors

there is this Cassandra
screaming at the crossroads
of history

she tells the truth
and no one believes...