On A Blank Page Poem by RIC BASTASA

i remember that entrance
examination at law school
trying to measure my aptitude
whether i can be a good student
of law in the university
they were asking legal questions
and i gave the answers
with all the brick arrangements of
my reason,
i know what logical minds ask for,
it is like building up and emotion
and then burst at the end
of the line, give a punch, and
don't bother, i mean, do not be
intimidated by all these fools,
Gibran i remember, says that
they all destroy every castle in
the sand that they are making
every minute, very much like
the routine of the waves crumbling
every sand
castle of the mind,
the Dean (modesty aside)
was impressed and ask what
my name is, from what school
did i finish my Philosophy,
i pocketed a smile,
repressed my conceit and
stared at him, gracious,
she did not feel that i am
sort of discourteous
buffalo from the marshlands.

and then she handed a blank
paper, and ask me to draw
an image of myself, of course,
i know what to draw immediately,
i always have in mind the three
monkeys: no hear, no speak,
no see

my favorite Dean, oh, she loves it.
until then, i became a lawyer
but she did not see me anymore
with my (lousy practice) .

she died untimely.

I speak, i hear,
i see no evil.

That is my secret
for being alive, till date.
Do you like it?
Will you love me for it?
Do you like the three monkeys?

Sometimes, i want to be
a great monkey. Not one of those
three that i once drew on that blank page.