The One Where She Sleeps Comfortably With. Poem by RIC BASTASA

the pain in the heart
tells you in gentle ways
how to love
how not to cease
how to create meaning
how to reinvent yourself
so that you will be stronger
so that you will be happier
so that you will live longer
than the rest of those
who never understood it.

you are sewn by this needle
into a beautiful embroidery
in that old fabric of
yourself and mother is excited
to see you
in her recollection

the one which she spreads in bed
her favorite blanket
the one where she sleeps comfortably with.