For Me To Keep This Faith. Poem by RIC BASTASA

there is no word
for forgiveness
no word fits
in this void no word
is exact
to replace it

i have asked for
it in the little actions
that i make

i am more giving now
what i treasure i part with
i am diminished
yet had then become an
invisible giant

confidence hovers in my
hair
this feeling that now
i am clean
after having paid that
much

not the money that you
dream about
not the honor that they
all sought

you must reiterate this:
the most important things
in life
are free,
the heart sees more
than the mind
or the eyes which had
then become blind
to all the obvious matters,

i no longer juggle
for the semantics of words
or the notoriety of
sophistry

i have not spoken a
word
but you always understand

you are so silent
and i always nod.

our hands speak, our eyes
speak more
than what the tongue deserves.

i do not even have to
touch you
or your garment
for me to keep this faith.