Without A Promise..... Poem by RIC BASTASA

much of it
are markings of
life

milestone and milestones
of nothing

mistaken sometimes
as forms of confession

rather than mirrors
about what was seen before

which nobody is telling
because in reality these

are all harsher than true
than truth,

sometimes we speak
in order not to be understood

because that is what life
really is

more of what we have not
understood but just felt

in between those sought
clarities are those foggy

afternoons where we stop
because we cannot see beyond

words are maps leading us
to nowhere

which we use simply because
we have no choice

we savor the silence
we nod we make handshakes

to the future that meets
us without a promise.