Lies

Lies

One word, sweet honey
Like poison drips off
Your tongue numb –
But it was just one word.

One sentence, and then
Golden palaces fill the air
Still that sour taste lingers
But it was just one sentence.

One small story, it can’t hurt
Build a world to call your own
The sour taste is gone now, ‘cause –
It was just one story.

One slight slip, they stare at you
“That’s not what you said before,”
They declare. Your heart pounds
“I must have been wrong,” you say quickly. Safe.

But slips grow larger
Cracks fill your world, careful! –
Don’t step on one. Your world could crash
And burn.

Now it’s gaping holes, you leap
Past, trying not to fall into. Slick palms,
Racing heart, stomach knots, just another
Average day, managing to slip past the bombs.

All good things must come to ends, though,
As one day you slip and tumble into the cavernous abyss.
Screaming for help and begging forgiveness,
Faces turn away. “You lied,” they say.

“We trusted you, but now…
I don’t know,” as friends leave.
One by one, and they’re gone, leaving you
To crawl out alone

Shredded palms, torn from the splintered rock
Looking down, you see – your clothes
Not the elegant gowns and robes they once were,
But frayed and tattered, old and worn.

Looking around, naught but pillars lying in the dirt
And cracked, broken stones that built your life
In the distance, the beautiful bell tower that never rang
Is gone, fallen with all the rest.

Sad, you bend down and touch the dust that held your world
Gone. Everything you’d made is crushed,
Nothing left but ruins of has been’s that were never there
If only you hadn’t done it – but you did.

Slowly you clean up and clear a spot
Where your new world will be. This time, though
Not so brilliant but the truth
As it really is, not as you knew they wanted

It will take longer this time
Nobody willing to see even the humble town you build
But it’s all you have left, for
Your own mistakes built a palace and tore it down

Now all that shines through is real.
Standing in the sunlight, you look and see
It doesn’t glitter or sparkle anymore, but –
Somehow it is better than a thousand palaces that never existed.