A Question And An Answer Poem by RIC BASTASA

what is the meaning of the black bird?
it is the friend of the night
not darkness
neither evil nor curse for it is a singing blackbird
the jolly one that comes
in the month of June
when the rest of the place is preoccupied with
grief,

it is the self that has combined all the colors
red for madness, white for purity, green for envy,
yellow for ripeness, brushing and mixing all these
in unity

the black bird is what i am when you
sit by the window looking for answers to the sea
the moon at night silently
passing by