Lunch And The Story About Geronimo Poem by RIC BASTASA

my lunch with her
could have been my lunch with you
and we could have laughed harder together,

we could have discussed well about Geronimo
his beautiful wife & kids
his lonely life in New York
and his being in love (with someone else)

this, perhaps is the most interesting part
and we could have talked the whole night till the breaking of dawn
when all the stars begin to hide in too much light
fading to the ocean of morning light

but once he said
and he was telling me with all the seriousness of a man
who does not want to be hurt anymore

that love is never a joke
for to him it has entailed not joy but pain
not an open door but a closed gate forever.