The Option Poem by RIC BASTASA

i do not have to believe you.
there are limits to what we can be.
to beliefs
and to my upbringing.
i cannot be another murderer
and take pride
in what i have done to a humanity
that kills and
never feels any guilt
thereafter.

i cannot be with you in the belief
that robbing a bank is a protest against
the ownership and
oppression of the
the few
those who believe that they have
the right to
own everything and leave
nothing to
anyone.

i cannot swim to your pool.
i am no swimmer at all.

you should have noticed that in my hunger
and humiliation,
i have only resorted to the
nothing
but the lines of my
chosen poetry.

beyond these words,
i desire nothing anymore.