If Only You Went Out Of Your Way.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

if only you went out
of the box

the door of your room
is open, if only you went
outside

what is required of you
is just the breathing
the opening

the coming out of the
shell and the presence
of the mind

flesh exposed to the sun
nakedness for a while and

then a covering a bit of
that shame
if only you came out of
the door

or jumped out of the window
like a winged bird
you could have flown a bit

if only you can came out
of the body
take if with you beside your
bed

your hand side by side with
your heart
your soul singing out to the
sky

you could have seen how
crazy it was, how foul it smells
how dirty, how different from
tenderness
how unlikely you could have
finished it
how bad did it taste

how rough and brackish
apart from love and real affection
apart from the one that could have
lasted forever....