The Leaves Of This Tree Speak To The Top Of Their Voices As Clouds Drift Dumb And Deaf. Poem by RIC BASTASA

i do not
wonder why jason
likes a
bukowski goldfish

his smile is
not the smile of
henry's mother

i guess he is
a happy and contented
cow with all the grasses
spreading on the
backyard of his own
house

something creep
within me and i now wonder
why a man like jason
would like a bukowski goldfish

never mind
i give him the benefit of the doubt
that his life is not miserable
that he did not have a battered mother
that he once had a happy childhood
that he did not have a father
whom he could hate throughout his life
and whom he could have wished
he killed himself

i lied
i wonder why he liked a bukowski
goldfish

i know his mother and father
and i have a copy of his
mental state

all eyes gaze on emptiness
as life goes on
with jason and the bukowski goldfish

poetry has roots
and the leaves of this tree
speak
to the top of their voices
as clouds drift
dumb and deaf.