I Have Mastered The Art Of Pretending Poem by RIC BASTASA

As i told you, write anything

but as i told you once, if you still remember,
write anything that tickles our minds, like acupuncture

to lessen the pain, with those needles, which to me
feels like your thumb, and the ring finger

it lingers, like the way i keep your lingerie last night
in the room which has no more tongue and teeth

which is quite beautiful in its peace and quiet since
it cannot tell which one of us did the healing or which

one of us inflicted the pain after. What pain is that?
that pain of having you and then losing you and then

planning again when to feel the gentleness of the
acupuncture needles again? I don't think much now

i have no more time for all these. I am alone in this
world, and i have mastered the art of pretending.