The Man Beside Me Poem by RIC BASTASA

now we are sailing on a
bamboo raft
floating on a silk river
bound to the other
side

except for the man
with a long bamboo pole
to touch the floor
and push us more

there is this man
beside me murmuring
his face is covered
by the shadow of his
big straw hat

the natives respect
him thinking that he
is god sent
knowing the words of
the mountain gods
who give them rain
after the drought

he chatters the song
of the cicadas
he murmurs the heaves
of the rain
finally he stops and
hands in the silence
of the rocks
that protrude in the
middle of the river

the waters rise
flood rages on
and i begin to hear
another song
of the incoming storm

then we arrive at the other
side of the river
this time we have become
one in the fold of the
fury asking the protection
of the mountain's belly

the morning news shall
tell about two men who
are fuming the seeds of
discontent of the plains
and the city

we have no names here
just coincidences