...Backtracking.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

at a certain age
of expected stability

where locks of hair
shine in the whiteness of
its acquired
wisdom

a love poem becomes
funny to the taste of those
beside you
and of your same age
who had graduated from the
hazards of love
calling it even a boring subject
matter

perhaps what they remember
is the pain
and the stupidity having given
much without
the desired returns of the day

but today i am writing a love
poem
for youth
a haiku for tight skin
and peach
cheeks and long black hair
less the stars

afraid of this shame
i keep this to myself like
a forbidden tattoo between my
legs

there is this secret to
life
retracing the tracks of
youth
and for once retaking the
grandeur of its
beliefs and hopes

no matter what.