Turtles And Rabbits Poem by RIC BASTASA

for my sweet memories i like them to be turtles
i like them move so slow
as i recall them, i like them to linger
like soft fingers caressing the
cotton fields of my mind

for the bitter ones, i like them to be rabbits
i like them to jump away from me
i do not like them to pester me like a flea
i want them to be doves i like them to fly away
i do not want them to have a home
i like them to be rivers to flow into the sea
i like them all gone
to the bottom
i like them
rot in the ground, i like them dead
and then forgotten

i think, i am feeling better now
with turtles swiming in a pond
with green leaves on my bed
with rose petals on my head