To Start Poem by RIC BASTASA

to start you are tempted
to throw
everything away

love gained
trust reposed
honor
and a name

you view yourself
bathing
under the rain

scrubbing your
body
with something
that you think
cleanses

soaping it
hard and wasting
so much water

it is all in the
head
not with your hands
or body

it is all in the mind
this being
to itself unto itself

there is no use
discarding
everything

they know when to
leave
when you just
say it

and soon you will
hug regret