Taste Poem by RIC BASTASA

it is a matter of taste
years of bitterness
cannot teach you
in a day what sweetness is

years of searching
cannot give you an hour
of a solution to the problems
you are grappling with

you mellow down through the years
what tastes so sweet to them
in your discriminating expertise
is never sweet to you

you keep a glass of your favorite concoction
the one that makes you live
she takes the courage of taking a sip
her face changes and she vomits

what makes you live is always
the exquisite taste of bitterness
the one that strengthens your mind
and that makes a lot of difference