Monkey Business... Poem by RIC BASTASA

I'VE SEEN your picture
fat lady, with curly red hair
thick arms, thin lips, red scarf
transparent blouse
bra-less

peach cheeks,
broad shoulders
thin eyebrows
cascading
necklace
diamond earrings
golden brooch
bare feet
big smiles



i almost forget you
you have turned into
someone else
that i cannot
identify with
anyone here

and you have taken
another name

i know what depression is,
how it is very much
food related
lots of soda, lots of cheese
and pasta

big bites of black moist chocolate cakes
long lonely hours
many nights of pondering
schemes of separations
strategies for surviving life
without
anyone to cling to

money, money,
it is worth having now
makes you
more powerful you know
despite the
sorrow

i know
like me
you imagine more
places to hide
more secrets to keep
more plans to
execute
more
unfinished
business


i deviate a little
from law to
literature
(and pornography
yucks!)

it is one of my old antics
and kits for
survival


a poem here
and a poem there
an alias here and another one
there in another place
with another set of
people

i love strange places
aliens
make my
travel more
interesting


you see,
i do not get bored now
i have many faces
i grow more eyes and hands
from this
worn out body

I'll add more legs
and perhaps

if it makes you more
comfortable with me

I'll have more tongues
and
a longer tail
shiny
and scented
to the odor
of earth