My Conclusion Poem by RIC BASTASA

I come to the conclusion
that it was not wisdom that enabled her to write poetry,
but a kind
of anger
this desperation
and hatred for all men
and mankind

not of instinct even
neither inspiration
the one that you find
in seers
and crystal ball owners
or gypsies
and Cassandras
with a gift
to foretell the future
and the Armageddon
that is coming
to our town

she has not delivered
any sublime
message
at all to me
or to the rest
of this forlorn
humanity

she means
every word she says
and she proclaims
she understands
all of them
word for word
line to line
poem to poem
like the scars
of her
grandchildren
and the
wounds
of her husband

like she knows
everything
from the tip
of my hair
to the tip of
my toe
the origin
of my sorrow

unlike the medium
be it Moses
or Elijah
the emissary
of the holy holy
God
who delivers
the message
without knowing
in the least
what the message
really means

and good
God gracious
she is unique
and so
differently
different
from me
or us
or the rest of us
morons
to her appearance

she says
she is finally
leaving and all the choirs of the angels in heaven
all sing

alleluia!