That Which Is In History Still Unwritten Poem by RIC BASTASA

only if you ask shall i answer
like a wall flower i am a passive
listener
if you ask me to talk, i will, but
it will be brief, a commensurate answer,
they call it justice,
but there is something more to it
which they call love,
compassion, kindness, empathy

you do not have to pay for my words,
or invite me to your party for my talk,
or send me a shirt, or pair of shoes
for what i have shared with you,

if it is a quid pro quo
then what's the value of what i am?
or what we are?

a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye,
until someone gets toothless or blind?

in the same manner that if you always pay
for what i will do,
there will come a time that i will do nothing
because you have nothing to pay me
anymore

which should not be the case

we shall stop this nonsense,
we serve because we must,
because without that we can be incomplete
our essences wasted

that we can never become
who we really are until all the sacrifices
are given:

gifts, serve, with nothing
in return, ideal,
human perfection, that sacrifice that
is still in history unwritten.