What Money Could Not Buy.... Poem by RIC BASTASA

i've known it for long
fame can be bought.
Money talks, money
judges. Money invents
and displays.

it cannot buy the moon
however,
and the stars.
Neither can it buy
the joys of creation.

my sleep is priceless.
my silence too.
Money cannot buy them.

and so is the simple
joy of expressing this
love in a poem, this
bouquet of red roses,
virtually, in the mind
and the heart of the
desirous.

the love that i keep
for you, is priceless
too. You left and my
money could not pay
you.

i've known this for
long. I tried to pay
for my silence, it
was refused. I tried
to bribe my heart, it
simply cannot be. And
never will these flowers
stop to bloom because
the petals were bribed
to wilt and deny themselves
the natural course of
life and beauty, and then
death.