The Fact.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

they pretended to be there
and they want us naked

one day, and it is as usual cold
they ask us to undress and hypnotized
we do everything just as they wanted...

they are drinking their cups of tea
and their bodies are well wrapped with their clothes
their heads with caps and their
feet with their socks and shoes on...

we believe what they are always telling us
that everything is all right
that there is nothing to worry about these truths
that when naked everything will be fine and
as the rule keeps on saying
we shall soon be happy and free....

it is nighttime
and there is no star
not a single star in the heavens
and we follow their orders
and we plunge into that cold and wide river
we are like the buffaloes

we shiver
it is so cold in here
and there is no star in the heavens
there is only the whisper of the incoming rain
the stoic silence of the night
the sighs of the air


we think we are dreaming
for when we open our eyes again after we dip ourselves in the waters
they are no longer there anymore
leaving us
with the traces of their laughter
the coldness of their indifference
the acridity of their
hatred

we are fools
we follow the orders and we have never used those innate lights within
our hearts

our heads bow
our feet in complete surrender
our toes protrude in the open

but it is not late yet
we still have time to wake up
and to get away from this cold river
we rise
we dry our hair and resume with the comfort of the heat of our clothes
we take our walk toward the house
back home
and settle in our own fireplace
we take our seats now
properly as we listen finally to the dictates of our conscience
our own songs

as we make ourselves open
to the coming of our own destinies
beside us
is reason.