My Friend Now.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

been away alone
for days
in that faraway land
and not missing you
as i try to fathom
who am i...

it is this adventure
this intense exploration of
a self that keeps me
going in

this mystery, i have bloomed
into another kind,
some flowers indeed
unfold at night, some
exude their scent in
a desert,
defenseless, some are
plucked
and thrown away just
like that...

and this meaningless
state is
what existentialism
touches,

i am different i am
strong
i can survive without
you
i hold my own hand
shaking it

as another friend,
forgive the foe in me,
two hands in one body,
feet that walk now
in same direction

in this faraway land
i am finally my own friend now.