A Discourse On Essence Poem by RIC BASTASA

i do not wonder why we are empty cups of coffee today
last night the mugs were full of
bubbling beer and the conversations flowed like
spilled beans from a rattan tray
the shadows of the night
they were not illusions
they were real since you touched them with your hands
smelled them and
love every molecule of them all

are we empty because we have been filled and we overflowed
and we simply have to renew our vows
to a divine emptying of ourselves
to become whole again
to start anew
and be humans again?

it is only your head, wrapped with skin, the skull that i feel
when i kiss you
that i have
i want to believe that these are all i have
for the keeping
but that is not at all true
there are still those that remain invisible to my eyes
more important than what you seem to appear

i do not wish to reduce them into a frame
nothing can be boxed
everything has always the capacity to escape
from my hold
from yours too
all these surprises, we wait, we try to grasp
that pain
that we must let go
because they can never be ours