Accept Now My Dear Friend Poem by RIC BASTASA

that there are days and nights
yin and yang
darkness and light
open highways and dead ends
that if there are daughters of Chaste
there too are the daughters of Lust
that if there are sons of Love
too there are sons of Hate
that there are mountains and plains
seas and deserts
prey and predator
victors and victims
accept my dear friend that this world is round
inside and out
rings of fire
depths of trenches
do not settle for the illusion of peace
and disregard the reality of war
accept my friend
there are fakes and genuines
morons and geniuses
blacks and whites and lots of shades between them
shallows and deeps
tongues and toes
embrace those days of sacrifices
and those other days of paradises
and when you have learned all these
you shall have taken wisdom in
have seen life at its peaks and lows
live it
the way it is.