This Afternoon's Experience Poem by RIC BASTASA

We face each other
I, the judge, and he, the priest
Accuser,
He claims he had been swindled
And he was furious
And he could have hit the swindler with his fist
Or kicked him
The twist comes
Our souls shifted
I have become the priest
And he becomes
The judge
I have seen the fury in his face
His eyebrows positioned like spears
Ready for a kill
It is shameful
Some tears fall from my eyes
And he does not notice
The shapes of
Compassion

I have long looked to the skies
For answers
And this afternoon
I guess i have
Found some
I tell him i do not really know
Compassion is always
A mouth gagged because there is nothing
Worth saying.