Ensemble Fete Rustique Poem by RIC BASTASA

I am assembling conversations
Of two former buddies
Who really like each other
Not as lovers
But as pure friends
And much as they really want
As brothers
They wanted to be
On same direction
Taking together
A path they love

But as fate would have it
Each had
Opposite directions
One went south
The other north

For years each
Thought about
The other what
Happened and
Where must he
Be now living

One fine day
They see each
But as norms dictate
Of course
One cannot kiss
The other
They shake hands
Like nice gentlemen
And they sit
And talk
No one cries
Each will be
Calm and rigid

“you are
flourishing! ”he stoically said.


“you look
real good! ”, he is unmoving,

they have not
seen each other
for 30 years

but as norms
would have
it, they pretend
that there is
no softness
involved
that there
exists no
feelings like
that of a
lover long lost
and now is
found.


Each saw the light
And each has opted
For a compromise
They have to be
Blind just the same
When they first
Parted as buddies.