The Long Journey Into A Recalling Poem by RIC BASTASA

actually
he did not choose to be here

he was told
he was thrown here
when he was a baby
when he had no sense at
all
about time and place
and people

just like everyone here
with a mind of their own
as they grow older
they begin to entertain questions
handed to them
by grief
and confusion

it was confusion
that made them think
it was grief that
ask them what happiness
is and how
illusive it seems

time gives them
those philosophical robes
that remain wet
with rain

someone who has outlived
all these quibbling
closed his mouth
and took the journey
with all calm

it is the silence that
after all
give them wisdom

it is the peace within
that pacified their storms

then they claim they
understand that they are not supposed
to be gnats
in the world of carcasses

that they should walk peacefully
and look at the stars
at night when they take their
temporary rests
on this still long
journey

into that longing about what once
was there
but they cannot
completely remember