Love Poem #3 Poem by RIC BASTASA

i could have
believed
in love potions
and sorcerers
if only to make
you love me

and i could have
deceived you
to drink the
glass where
you think
everything is
just plain
crystal clear
water

i could have
insisted that you
can love me
that you must love
me that i am dying
and that i am
a very lonely soul
floating in the
limbo of my
aching heart

but no
i cannot do these
fraudulent
undertakings

i have seen birds
inside their cages
dying because
they are denied
the freedom to
love and i cannot
kill you,

neither shall i kill
myself because
i have loved and
lost again for
the nth time of
this lonely game
that we all play.