Kim Corda... Poem by RIC BASTASA

if you cannot be a gentleman
since you are never one
as you claim to be
with women as simply objects of your pleasure
with money as your god
and exploitation always your motive
in the self that is above all else
the center of your tiny universe
may i then advice you
to just, just
pretend to be a gentleman and do not
do not
ever hurt the one who loves you
because that one
has no control over this part
that we call the heart
this feeling that we
call love
so please i beg you
hide in that pretense
and be the man of this world
that any man or woman
cannot forget
at least in one moment of his/her life
that she/he
had ever fallen in love.