You Define A House With People Poem by RIC BASTASA

to have meaning
you define a house with people

a park with lots of them
or a mall with more

sometimes i wonder
why you do not like a conversation

it gives a living room its own sound
why you do not like an interaction

of men and women arguing
and laughing and flirting and
sweating things out

it gives a veranda a smell
of vodka and beer and smoke
that fills the air

do not worry much about death
or noise or petty quarrels

i assure you, whether you hinder them or not
for sure, they will always come

do not hate that apple of discord
it is an honored myth.