How Can You Be So Unforgiving? Poem by RIC BASTASA

many times i watch you
you are very near
my breath touches your
skin
my tongue is restrained
it is true

you do not bore me
you give life like a song
of a dying bird

when i listen you start
to play with your wings
and the wind
is perplexed

when i kiss you
you begin to fly away from my
tongue which has always
been true
as ever
like the ray of the sun
to the petal of
the rose

that is my only mistake
you are not forgiving

my breath touches the shadows
of your footsteps
my tongue licks the mud.