On Writing Poem by RIC BASTASA

unlike those who have already names
encrypted in royal tablets

i, this candid, good-for-nothing
scribbler

servant of the simple words,
direct from the heart

a knife of my mind
stabbing sleepy somethings

and someone Else's
hereby offer you the most straightforward request

that for you to be one of us
there is only one thing to do

think for yourself and write for yourself
and do the things you like to do with sincerity

you may read much
a roomful of books written by those who had been there
centuries ahead of us

but always take note
you are either more or less than them
perhaps in reality
much lesser and this will be a big
dismay

a retrogression
a depression for not being one with/of them
in tone and performance

they are expert acrobats in the theater of words

as you begin this journey finally
relax, be cool, as i am telling you,

begin from the heart
walk with the free and open mind

let your hands fall freely
beside your thighs and then step outside the door

take that walk casually
as though you are heading for nowhere