Clarity Poem by RIC BASTASA

do not eat words
do not eat my poetry

do not attempt to chew it
do not swallow it whole like how a boa swallows the whole pig

take your time. look at it. from the first word to the last.
think of this poem as syllables, not as thoughts, not as my thoughts.
or your thoughts. think of this poem as a feeling.

a baby sleeping. a calm look at the eye. a stare.
a grip. a hand grasping another hand.
a breath suspended in cold air.

two hands in prayer. think of this as the sound of a distant bell.
an orange dressed monk walking at the shore.

a leaf falling on the white sand.
a last step on the trip.
a beginning of a dream.

do not think now. Feel the sands slipping from your fingers.
See the sands falling on the floor of the sand.

do not move. Do not swallow your saliva.

And then speak the first word of this line.
This i think is clarity.