That Open-Ended Novel... Poem by RIC BASTASA

is that the way you want to end
a story? nothing definite,
not the usual one, where the hero stands
against the sun
and then his lady comes and kisses him
and then
The End with the matching music
that satisfies the heart
that justice is served
and that once again the good has
triumphed.

how did you end our story?
you left me hanging upon a cliff
and the audience did not see how i fell
from a thousand feet
and smash my head on the rocks below
and how my blood oozed
and squirted and
make the sea red.

what kind of writer are you?
you left the last page blank.
the monitor is anxious and the keys
are idle still for hours

until there was a blackout
and the computer's off.

for days the blog is left undecided.
for years the last lines waited.

i guess that is how you wanted it
very much like life

individualist, one can make or unmake oneself
smashed the little bird
or set it free from your hands that hold it
there is this will
this human will

and i the actor of your novel
must use it now.