That Early Morning Before You Go For A Walk Poem by RIC BASTASA

you dream about a court litigation,
there was this man, emaciated suffering
from tuberculosis, his bed is worn out, blood stains
on his pillow and blanket unwashed, you can estimate
how this foul smell emasculates him,
he does not sound a complaint,
yet you know he does not like everything around him,
including himself,

there are cockroaches feeding on his saliva
drying and more are coming from his mouth,
no one cares for him, he is left alone to die,
and you see these things above him
you are the spirit of his dream, his son, and he
is your father,

there are unresolved issued between you and him
years ago, you are ambivalent,

did he destroy you? or was it him who placed you
in the throne of your success now?

Hamlet, to be or not to be,
you murmur the lines in your sleep.

you wake up, remembering a friend under the same circumstances.
some of them, too, died in despair,
unable to understand the madness of the Furies
existing in the mind of the weak and
the feeble minded.

things are simple. Doubt is a reality.
Ambivalence is human nature too.
What is important is this: they belong to their world now
and you are on your own
in this contested Paradise.

Why not enjoy it now? Savor, and just be yourself.
Go on. Write about it and be the redeemed man that you are.
With God beside you, who can be against you?

Ah, not even your cruel father. Not even your insensitive self.
It simple. Life is simple. Do not complicate it with the unnecessary
Metaphors. Words are nothing but words.

Dreams are just dreams. The cockroaches are merely symbols.
The man with TB was never him. Funny, but it could be you.

Meanwhile, you take a walk, and be under the power of the sun.
Stare at it. Close your eyes. Savor what red is there.