A sample poem from Vito’s first book. Puffs Available now on Amazon
“Gone for Good”
She kicked my love to the curb
put hers in someone else’s knapsack
who as pretty as you please
slung it over his shoulder for a picnic in the park.
Retreating to my dwelling
home transformed to a receding cell
four walls square
I cut the wires of communication to the world.
Family and friends walked miles
to whisper at my unanswered door
encouraging whispers
please to again taste the sweetness of life
the very sweetness that had since scorched my mind.
Letters pushed through my door slot
piled knee high
unopened they sang the same said plea.
Sitting alone
days on end
save for the simple provisions
all desires slipped from my unwitting frame
till only nothing was appealing.
Gazing at the night sky
the multitude of stars seemed at arm’s reach
while my own breath a distant memory.
An old friend recalling a hidden key
beneath a garden stone entered my home
finding me in a state
a state that provoked in him a frigid tension.
His words singed my mind making good sense
though futile to one such as I
a person fallen into a state of seeing no sense in everything.
Surprising
especially to myself
a stirring occurred
at first a thought
perhaps that deep sense of sadness in his eyes as its source
then again perhaps from another source
that fountain
that wellhead from which all conclusions spring.
The stirring arose not from desire
in the true sense of the word.
What took form was more the sight of a favorable chance
bantam gifts flung out like seeds
well knowing that my words laid on a scale
gave measure to the meagerness of my knowledge.
I responded to his question
as to whether escape from my prison might occur in time.
My response in certainty baffled my friend
while imparting to me what I had not been aware.
My response
a quip in most arenas
words passed through my lips
as if pulled from my gut by strings
then dropped to the floor like heavy ash
to be swept up and discarded with the trash.
“My escape is inevitable
when the inevitable makes it so.”
This being said as it was clear to me now
my time in my cell with my new beloved
as proclaimed long ago
by John of the Cross
had been the best time in my life.
Vito Bono 