A Certain Loss Poem by RIC BASTASA

to compromise
one suffers a certain loss
I've lost a face once, and then a mouth
and then my feet
they cut me to invisible pieces
until what is left of me
is my voice
the one that talks to you
now
but this one will not be speaking
for any compromise
it will speak about
the truth
the loss, that certain loss
that you can only see
in my words
here, they who are with me in the house
where only a part of me thrives
cannot ascertain it

the smile of the lips are still there
but there is nothing there anymore
about myself.