A New Season Poem by RIC BASTASA

i welcome the new season
when i do not like to do the usual things i do,

and they look for me
on places they always see me
the lecture room is full but i will not be there
my cell phone rings but i will not answer
i turn everything off

it is a new season of my life
for them to see me die outside
for me to make life anew inside
away from the crowd
into the solitude of my soul

into the calm pond
lotus like i sit
seeking myself, long lost, and weary

molting like a snake, in hibernation, like a mud fish
hiding its head on mud
cracking soil in summer
till the next rain.