Given The Chance The Only Choice Is To Fly Away. Poem by RIC BASTASA

the secret lives
inside our tongues
that once in a while
meet before the
sun comes out in the
open
before the cock crows
in the morning

what i love in you
is a secret
what you love in me
is unsaid

everyday goes like
anyday
the usual breakfast on
the table
the usual washing of
the dishes

the secret says nothing
and if it is not love then
what is it really?

is this table an illusion?
is this food that you serve
upon me an inebriation?

pluto to venus.
hair to toe.
and then all rivers
to the ocean.

the old lady calls your
name
early dawn
work starts there and love
is kept buried
inside our hearts.

the bed expects not much
from the birds
who are always rooted to
their nests.

it is not love. it is never
love.
Logic bares it all.
after the last patch is
taken away from your
beautiful body

reality speaks and says
what is all this bother all about?

such a waste of time and
decency.
it is not worth it. come,
read the lips of the lover.

read the eyes. fell the palm.
it is mere compliance
because you asked for it.

bare and blue. given the chance
the only choice is to fly away.