I See Beauty In You... Poem by RIC BASTASA

i see beauty in you and i find a place
where i can watch you without noticing me.
the way you stand, you are somebody
always to me, someone i always think
of at night,
the way you speak, i am always
elated, and when i hear you i find meaning
and i become someone too.
how can a stone turn into a living sunflower?
how can a dried river bed begin to flow waters again?
how can an ant with its labors for the queen
find meaning in monotony?
how can birds fly to long distances crossing seas
and mountains to find the usual place of their
meetings?
how can mountains rise and be distinguished?
how can hills spread and find a name for its cones?
how can i be happy just seeing you alone
and so confused what to do with your life?
must i be only guessing what is happening to you?
or must it be that you are happy and here i am longing
for you, in a state of transference,
converting you into a poem
and i claim to own you since i have written you
confined in my illusion
held hostage to my invention
as to what love when there really was none.