In Essence... Poem by RIC BASTASA

life is not
the after life is,

body is not
the soul is

you do not
eat the shell
you throw it
away

you eat the flesh
and satisfy
that hunger

not the flesh
but the memory

not even the memory
but the nothingness
at the end

not the end
but the beginning as always
and ever shall be
this new beginning


it is always not this
but that
not that but this

ahh, this human mind
trying to be something else
not this but that
not that but this


our years but a hush
a sigh
our understanding
just a glimpse
of what is opaque
and dimmed....