At The Museum With A Friend.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

despite
those younger years
i remember
bathing in the same river
laughing on silly
matters of
our youth
i thought of such familiarity
and when we see each
other again
with Liz at the Smithsonian
Museum
as we watch Demi Moore pregnant
and naked
or that abstract painting of
Ashikaga which are drops of
mixed paint on the canvass
as i pass him this time to
another
diorama of our history
past his glare and flair
i sensed that there is really
something wrong somewhere
in the island of his face
with the sea in his eyes
that angst
which he cannot tell
afraid that i may tell him
that he is unhappy
with his life
despite the expensive house
in the city that the
diplomat from Spain gave up
for good
as the air is not a song
and the sky no more
than a blot in a page
of his life
that painting of the sinking
ship with hands
outstretched
screaming for help
i could have bought that
were it not for
the consequences of the kind
of life that
we have finally
lived.