For Righteousness Sake And Not For Anything Else..... Poem by RIC BASTASA

then the dirt will be
visible.
the blemishes striking.
you do not say
as it was written.
we were experiencing it.
we are no longer strangers.

i like it this way.
it will be penetrating
and long lasting.
it will not fade. it will
stick to me and
i will fully understand it.

did you not say that
wisdom is different from
mere knowledge?

then i will know what
is wrong.
then i will know how
to avoid it.
and i will not even
avoid it
because i have to.
i avoided it because
it is not a part of me
anymore.

i avoided it not because
our ancestors told us so.
or the authorities so
decreed it with all
its concomitant penalties.

there is a rock in the
middle of the road.
there is a mole in your
face.
there is dirt in your
forehead.
there is a thorn in
your heart.

we do not say it.
we understand it.
and it most understood
this way.

fully fully comprehended.
then i walk my way
without thinking about
the law or about the judgment
or about the consequences.

i am righteous now and that
is for righteousness sake
and not for anything else.