To Become Still You.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

you learn howlife breaks
itself, without anyone teaching
you, it comes at first,
upon a surprise, then it comes
again and again andagain
and all the breaking becomes
all too familiar, and this
becomes your friend, a part
of you.

you broke yourself like
anyone else, and it is no one's
fault, no one's to blame, it
but part of growing up,
the shedding of the skin,
the washing of the shore,
the rain on the roof,
the cutting of the cord,
the ceasing of life,
yes, death is the last
breaking, where the body
is left out, where the
soul leaks from it,
to become still you.