To Give You Away.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

i am going back to the fields
of grass
cows still pasture there
and the flock of sheep still silent
and hardheaded

the past as master has lost
control of the staff
and the trees have gone untrimmed
for years

this is the forest of our future
no one minds where the paths
are growing
what mountains move somewhere
and whether abu comes back again
or not
the women really do not care
as they bathe naked in the river

i am going back there to recollect
the rules of my games
for i have lost them

that innocense that has kept me so alive
the swim in the old river
the strength of my legs
that excitement about those which were new
and so uncertain

i am going there to regain what
i once had
now that i am already ready
to give you away