Today’s prompt from the lovely people at NaPoWriMo asks that we think about lies as we write today. I, personally, love lying. It can be such a thrill to use words to convince people of things that are not true. Not that I lie regularly, but I have been known to make up back stories for myself that are not entirely true when I meet people who I know I will never see again. It reminds me of the tenuous nature of our reality which depends on our words to sustain it. What we say, the stories we tell, become their own sort of truth when we believe in them and although the following poem is a (somewhat ridiculous) study in lies, I hold to the belief that it contains some truth.
Lies That I Wish Were True
You can get anywhere in the world by walking
if you tie a feather and two fish scales
to each shoe string
But when you get there you may find
that all of the people who live there
have their heads in the clouds
and if you try to talk to them
you will be greeted by silence
and the soft rustling of their long, swaying forest of necks.
If you turn around
stretch out your arms
and look to the sky,
you will see a lazy spot of haziness
above the horizon.
If you stare at this spot
do not blink
as you approach
and watch carefully that wispy air
you may find that you can reach the horizon
if you do it sideways
while whistling Yankee-Doodle.
If you do all of these things
and if your face has the right number of moles
(seven)
then you will find the road to this place to be easy
and smooth.
But when you blink, or fall
and the horizon stays the same distance away
no matter how hard you try,
turn your toes another way.
You can get anywhere in the world by walking.