And He Must At The Designated Hour, Step Out. Poem by RIC BASTASA

at the introductory part of the book of your life
do not speak about thorns
just as the door cannot be considered to welcome
a stranger if you put a dog in there

how beautiful is it if the window has a creeping vine
from the ground bringing a flower to the sill
like a prince trying to find his Rapunzel

at the beginning of everything begin with a nice word
and use this words to take a stranger into your life
not to save him or give him a home but simply to
entice him to know how is it to live your own life

serve the drink in the receiving area, and put the
music to create that mood of intimate contemplation
but do not make him sleep, for soon you shall expose

the other pages of the story, what life really is, how
it made you scream, and how at the end it made you
silent, how you have finally discarded the words and
settle only for feelings, how you were broken and how

finally you have recollected yourself, using the prayers
of your own traditions, the logic of your forefathers,
the acceptance of yourself, that manner of staying put
and still be alive, despite all the odds,

and then when this is over, tell the guest, that this
house is so private, soon it will close, and he must
at the designated hour, step out.