The Self-Depreciated One. Poem by RIC BASTASA

what they
all hate is
self-depreciation

all as usual
want to give you
what all expect

same happy form
one reproducing the
other using the
same formula all
over again

who wants to
laugh at himself?
who want to
stab one's heart?

unless you are
the subject of
a mental study, unless
you lost all hope
unless all you want
is to die


here, we are in
a party and everyone
wants to be the
center of attraction
it is normal

rejection however
is massive. No one's
talking.
Everybody knows
however

this fact of life
millions of love
unrequited.
billions of people
hating one another.
a few feeling the
superiority of their
own race.
trillions want to
destroy
those who are
greater than them.

the self-depreciated
one is the humblest.
here in an island
he thrives in peace.
dried fish. Yam.
and lots of sea and
sun.