Shoulder Poem by RIC BASTASA

pains on his shoulder
creepy
like snakes looking for
the big bite

poisonous
lethal bite for the night

dead ma
a white man does not understand
what is it

deadma
no one's dead here

it simply means
the unmindfulness of the surrounding pain

or the itch
and the scratch

the fingernails have reasons
not to scratch anymore

too disturbing
too important to be give the attention

leave them do whatever they want
and just like anything else
they too leave
when not a pinch of attention is given

or the pain becomes a part of routine
like a the chase of the blinking signs of traffic on the road