The Woman In The South... Poem by RIC BASTASA

the woman i think is lost but when i talk to her
she is the most definite one, direct, candid, and knows
what she is doing,
she is an internet preacher of her causes,
the rivers are polluted now, and the mountains bald,
the green movement is on
coal is passe, mining is evil, the corporate lords
are killing everybody,

there must be change,
there must be change
there must be change

we can change the system, she shouts, she carries the flag
and waves the red colors in the air,

she is not afraid of death, she welcomes it anytime.
she is a friend, but i am not with her.

when we are near, there is something else,
not the causes, not the effects, it is something else.

and i have not told her yet.
i am irrelevant, and perhaps it is better this way.

i have no inkling. i can't.
i have to say no.