Attentat Poem by RIC BASTASA

i see in your
words an attempt to make
poetry as a form
of story telling
a diary, a journal for the day,
a note,
a reminder like a dog mark
or a magnetic post
on the refrigerator
sometimes i go beyond
all these things
seeing scars
poke marks, acne,
a mote,
a blister, oh yes,
what about that burn?
an injury being healed
by the caresses of
words without
the capacity for rhythm

i see in you what others
have not seen,
a silence that curls like
a snake,
that in extreme hit
gives a rattle,
a warning for those who
come and mess
with you,

you know when
to bite
and it is only
when necessary
when your
castle of privacy
is invaded
with nothing but the
obvious
degraded into
nothing.