Edited Poem by RIC BASTASA

one afternoon when the sun
sinks at the horizon and fades like a face
of my beloved
i begin to write about the fact of
friendship
not in poetic form but
factual

it is all about you
the day you left for america and you never write
a letter at the time
when letters were still in.

it is about a question of not talking
about a silence that still speaks despite the fact
that my hands cover my mouth

it is about a promise
that you will be you despite the absence of everyone
despite the loneliness
that lingers like a leech
on the skin of your feet as you pass the murky waters
of your life

friend, dissolve like sugar to water and be invisible
but still be sweet as ever.