Indifference Of The Other Poem by RIC BASTASA

the I
in me shuts down the switches
there is no wave
nothing sort of a line runs
it becomes a straight line
there is no curve in between

when I face you again
i turn on the switches again
like an offering for a nice conversation
about anything else: a son
a sun, a sound of life, a cry, a thud,
a soft touch like a gushing water on the rock
like a ticking clock

i am in the middle of a nice story
you were listening at first as you sip your black coffee
there is this character, a man looking for an opening
a woman about to find an exit
then you look around

this happens at the 39th floor
one sees a world view of the city
tiny lights, moving worm like neon along the streets
of pain


i begin to stare
i turn off the switches inside my guts my armpits
inside my chest there is a drum that stops calling the spirits
of the wind

i look at the live band singing a Latin song
i like the beat now and then i pretend that you are gone

someone down there at the ground floor
where you are crushed like a pumpkin
shall pick you up

they will not just be surprised
they will know what existence means
how precious life is really

i switch off this weird imagination about you
but we will still be leaving together
no one notices the glitch