High Poem by RIC BASTASA

i feel high today
because mother came in a dream
with an airplane
evidently by her dress
and expert actuation she is also the
pilot
she says with authority that this is
a chartered flight
and i will be the only passenger
bound to a place where she presently lives,
i do not mind at first what she
is saying
because my first reaction has been
to hug her tightly
like the way loneliness
hugs a newly-found
lover.

i look at her face carefully
she is not as bright as the appearance
of the ring she gave me
when i reached 25
and she feels like wax when i touch her
her face.

i don't know but i refused her
which when i tell the story to my wife
she explains
why i am still
alive.