Imagination And Survival Poem by RIC BASTASA

when all things fail
he resorts to free time
this power of
imagination
that takes him anywhere
he goes
this twisting of something
that hurts
the hard blunt edges
rubbed into the softness
of the
gratifying self
the unacceptability that
you volunteer
upon your shoulders
inside the crowded room
filled with mess
you select what must go
inside your heart
treasure what they cannot
see in you
in the long run
the only reliable partner
is the silence
the ability to be
despite all the odds
where there is no love
from other people's hearts
the mind must
create the persons
must carve hearts
must know how to wipe
the blood
and from there grow the
seeds of
confidence again
that sense of peace
amidst the storm
that loving kindness
amidst the hatred
that waiting alone in the boat
dreaming of land.