Be Ready, It Is Coming Poem by RIC BASTASA

sad truths bring you some preludes
so you can hone your ambivalent reactions
so you can have a little refinement
when the real part of grieving gets inside
your skin deep down into the pores and
flesh reverberating into the very mesh of
your rattling bones

nature gives you a rehearsal
over and over again until you are bored with sorrow
until it does not affect you anymore
until you have no word for it
except dignified acceptance


the hours are well regimented like soldiers prepared for war
and the days are like empty boats accommodating a lot of free passengers

now do not panic, keep your chin up, do not be overwhelmed
for soon
grief shall come as a typhoon
sorrow like a year of drought

your rivers shall run dry
your deep wells shall turn out to be shallow foxholes
your homes of comfort shattered into pieces of wood
drifting in the strong currents of the winds
of change.