For Loleng Poem by RIC BASTASA

i am afraid i have been too literal
for the main reason that i want you to understand easily
what i mean
to lighten what heavy load
you have there

i am sleepy and you expect more of those
metaphors

they have all left this place
that many have misunderstood

now Loleng
each word has its own moving meaning

a dung for a cow
something that is wet for rain

each word has its own limited reality
which you must enclose and
capture
a niche for instance
and a flower
and white curtain all for a wall

but it will not be for long Loleng
when leaving is too painful when things cannot be prevented
from happening

like birth for a start then sometimes death in the middle
instead of marriage

what words will i use Loleng to comfort you?
what metaphors can i think of
to appease you
or trick you into an exit?

perhaps only silence, only silence

perhaps even nothing at all
to comfort you because
the dark nights are getting long
storms more turbulent

and many people as indifferent as
the blank stares that you
see when they shrug their shoulders
when you ran for
them for help