...The Glass.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

what we desire
we buy and take in our house
keep in a cabinet
we seldom use if ever
only on very
special occasions

for instance
on anniversaries of weddings
and births

no, no we do not use it for
deaths
we use something else which
is dispensable

this is something expensive
and beautiful
and glassy and gleams against
the sun

we are too careful
like we are always on guard with our
toes

today, it fell.
it broke.

and since then we are
not speaking.