To Write A Poem That Hurts Somebody Poem by RIC BASTASA

to tell the truth
that hurts a friend
how to make a poem
like that?
something runs from my fingers
to the keyboard
about a friend that i never like to hurt
or you
the reader whom i do not know much
but expect much from me
i shall write the truth of a suffering
monk, a human body misshapen
by centuries of tradition
of women veiled unable to drive their
own cars
of children molested by priests
of an apologizing Pope
about airplane crashes involving
your loved ones
about boats capsizing in the island
off Mali
volleyed by pirates
about love that betrayed love
about life that cuts itself
in one instance
about the blink of an eye
and the slashing of the wrist of life
writs of censure
and lust

i will continue writing about the other truths tonight
one involving you
but i shall not finish it
but keep it
i wish no pain
never again.