An Ending Poem by RIC BASTASA

a civilized man
no matter how eloquent
and sociable

no matter how
engulfing his mind
is

no matter how thorough
his grasp of all the elements
of this universe

no matter how amazing
is his body and soul
and thoughts
and cares

somehow if he has to be
decent at all

must know about the
fact of an end.

a manner, of ending
a meeting, a manner of ending
a conversation, no matter how nice it is

some men are much better at it
when through when the mission is done
when everything is over
when all is said and done

knows how is it to end what he
has started

he takes his life and not waste it
in a meaningless nook

in the useless passage of the hours
where the bell tolls and no one listens