Reconstruction Game Poem by RIC BASTASA

you know
that when i write
i am not
inside
myself, i am somewhere else
and you try to catch me
with a phrase
that reminds me of someone
that you know
i love, but i have outlived
your wits
and i have learned to live
somewhere else where
you do not know
how to find me,
and i keep talking
and you pretend to listen
but there is no
meeting here
just the passing by and
letting go
and yet keeping in touch
just in case
things break down and
we need each other
again
to reconstruct
and
be whole again
like

a machine with
its bolts and screws.