The I..... Poem by RIC BASTASA

to start with
i read what you have written
and then i
think about it
i go beyond it
and savor what flavor
have you
put into it
and then i go on my own
traveling inside
myself
trying to see what
i have not seen
so well
and then i begin to write
choose my words
jibing it with what
i am feeling for the day
somehow
i have some vents
created some openings
for what is
building and smoking
and gasping
inside my system and
then
everything is
confronted
their names are
revealed
their shapes more
definite with
the particularity of
their colors
it is getting to know
myself and the rest of
myself
as though there are too
many of me or
us
some turn to be birds
and happily they fly away
as i see them
winging their ways
to their destinations
and then there is someone
who is left
now strong and
quiet
simply
gazing and
forgiving.