About Manny... Poem by RIC BASTASA

Manny does not remember as a
poet when he left this small town
24 years ago
because he felt so lost and he is looking
for what self
he thinks he had,

i was then a budding word,
my petals are ugly
and my stem is a worm
the roots crawl like an
invented monster

what he thinks i was
was that i was a monk without a beard
a non-believer of the bishop
and a critic of Lauritz

he never bothered to look at
my room
as i have kept it like a pigsty
it smells like hell
and all he thinks is that heaven
is here