The Fall (An Extension) .... Poem by RIC BASTASA

when i fall
this i must tell you
i am hurt
i will be really hurt
but don't come near me
and insult me with
your help or
sympathy
i am complete and
more self-sufficient than you
i am prepared
and had long prepared for this fall
my own causing
my own fault
my own way of surrendering to
God

and when it is your time to fall too
i will just watch
because i have suffered the same
because it must happen
because you know always what to do too
because you are
by now
stronger than me.