I was once a liar
but even saying those words
reveals that I still am one.
In the days of my adolescence
almost every word coming
out of my mouth was a lie:
"Is your homework done?"
"Where are you going?"
"What time did you get home?"
Some point in young adulthood
truth became easier to face
because without it
finances couldn't be managed
relationship couldn't be nurtured
but in a bind I still lied:
"It all right, this diamond is big enough."
"It’s okay to go to Vegas without me."
"Everything on my tax form is true."
My children are confounded when I know
they are lying and I am surprised at
how young they start it:
"Who broke the lamp?"
"Did you get into my make-up?"
"Who ate the last piece of chocolate cake?"
Maybe it’s genetic and we inherit it
or it is part of our survival instinct
an automatic response to danger.
Politicians lie, so do religious leaders,
men and women lie to each other
as well as to themselves.
I’ve never heard an animal lie
unless I consider the little Chihuahua who barks
and barks whether anyone is out there or not.
Maybe camouflage is a mammals way of lying
and if I use this reasoning
I guess insects and plants lie too.
So what is the truth?
When I paint or draw I use
negative space to highlight a subject.
Maybe a lie is the dark side of the moon
to make visible the light from the sun
and it's not good or bad, in the biblical sense,
but it is all a part of nature
and we have to learn to deal with it
in order to survive.
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