This I Want To Outgrow Poem by RIC BASTASA

in that old picture
where i was still young
with chinese eyes
and frail arms
and where my little brother
was mistaken as a german boy
where mama was still wearing
that black shawl and
stiletto shoes
behind us the grotto of
the virgin mary
and along with us some neighbors
who wanted to belong to us
on that triumphant day,
if you really look closely
father was missing
and i for a fact knew the real
reason why...
nidas was there with her
molded hair and vincent was
there too with his
foul smelling armpit which
really irritated us all
a bit,
it was a happy day and
we all dined with dignity
and pride

time passed quickly
flying like a wild bird away from
its niche
away from the virgin forest
where houses mushroomed
incessantly, well, my point
is the desperate search for
meaning of those two there
who if you care to know
from the village where we
all came from, committed suicide
and had then become the talk of the
town for all those years.

this, i want to outgrow.