Not Because We Are Friends Poem by RIC BASTASA

Not because we are friends then I will
Be dishonest, calling a spade a diamond,

I don’t work that way, ugly is ugly
Pretty is pretty, and bad is bad and

Good is good to me, no matter what,
And you show me your face with a

New haircut, and ask me if you look
Good, and I say, you look the other

Way around, is the barber still alive?
Then you show me your poem that you

Wrote last night, and you ask me
What do you think? I think it is

I take a look, read a while and
Twitch my face many times than usual

Garbage, throw it in the wastebasket
And you say I am cruel, I am inconsi-

Derate about how you feel. I am
Telling you, you are my friend and

We are friends because we are honest.
Why not try writing another one again?

I will not teach you though, I write so
Bad myself, feeling so bad, but I will not stop

Being myself & be my harshest critique
I bought another trashcan, bigger this time.