Forgive Me.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

when you spoke to me that
night about
certain matters, which i did not
really pay attention,
forgive me
but i was somewhere else
into a far place
where i want myself foremost
to be a stranger
again

this place is exhausting
and it is sipping all my energy
as though she is a very
thirsty woman and she is drinking
all of me
without ever thinking that i as
a bowl
also needs a certain
fullness

despite air
or another chunk of emptiness
forgive me
but i have gone into a stupor
into a place
where i can be silent
and yet
more vigilant as ever.