Peroration This Morning... Poem by RIC BASTASA

When this world ends
(which i honestly think does not)
Let all the choirs of angels in the Heavens
sing
(do you still believe about those angels?)
When you end
(translate as dying or
died; which i think is also sure to come
everyone dies anyway)
your life, for sure, i bring my own dues
to you: white flowers and some
catholic prayers and candles
and your favorite
rice cakes and
coca-cola soft-drink)

when i die
someday
(never mind the exact date)
i will wear the best smile i have
and my face
(since i cannot speak anymore
understandably)
shall send you the message
that I have also done all the things
that i have always wanted to do
that i have written all my
assigned poems
that i have followed all the orders
and commands
that i had lapses too
(but i have always been forgiving
to myself
understanding all my
limitations and
strengths)

that i have indulged in so many
restraints
to please my God and Earth and
Sky
that i have lived in the light
and savored some little
shadows of doubts
and felt the coldness of
darkness too

that i have lived fully as a human being
and that when my last breath is given
that i have already prepared myself
to the next stage
ready for the next house
available
for all the comings and goings of
the changes of
our seasons

and that for all the things that i have not
felt and known
and understood
I leave them all
in the mercies of
God.

Amen.