The Lonely Stroll In The Empty Park... Poem by RIC BASTASA

at six p.m. i took a walk
in the plaza
and i am the only one there
savoring the emptiness
of the whole town

the church is closed but you
can hear the rosary being said
through the sound system
and those who are listening
and praying are inside their
houses,

you are supposed to stay home
i am telling myself
but this time, i have no sense
of home anymore.

i am this kind of humanity
who betrayed and then being betrayed too
and so there is no place for one
to be self-righteous or for one to
blame another

the law calls it pari delicto
where we are supposed to be left
ona status quo
where no one wins and no one loses
as both of us shall be only kept
in one and the same place.

what i feel are palpitations
of my heart
having lost the reason of the mind
as though i am a native in the jungle
hitting the drums for another drum
or another killing.

in here, no one buries the dead
no one says the names of the casualties
at the height of the shouts for whatever
it is, and for whom and for what,
or why, all eyes are closed seeing
nothing and will be seeing nothing
when this begins and when this ends.