...Stereotypes.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

when you told her
that you are a poet
she opted silence

she remembers if you
travel inside her mind
James, the village poet
who recites poems
of praise for the
village queen who wins
her crown through a bidding

where money is poured
and counted and the one
who obtains the highest
cash becomes the queen of
the sea

the pearl, the moon and
the stars all that they
are used to saying even
without meaning

in their village the poet
works for a pay
and hence cannot have
poems without your money

you are not distinct
from the genetic pool of
liars and flatterers and
so when she finally takes
a look at you

she just smiles and keeps
on keeping that bad opinion
to herself

until you responded too with
deep silence, that poem within
which you have kept for years
not meant to be shared for
the nincompoops and stereotypes.