Truth Offends
Lawrence S. Pertillar 1947 (Connecticut)
OK?
The truth offends many everyday.
Collectively fictioned.
What has been a way of life.
Feeding the economy.
Kept to keep us all fantasized.
With people heard to hear claiming,
To have had enough and fed up.
While blaming the government,
Of interfering too much.
In their entitled lives.
Restricted to rumors, rules and told lies.
Then to wonder where and why,
The government is slow to restore and fix.
A natural disaster,
That the government...
Had nothing to do with.
But...
Were warned to expect devastation.
Including every pretension.
Protected to charade the masquerading.
Of an ownership fictioned to possess.
As quick as the government can do it.
Or else they will protest,
The losing of confidence...
In a government they depend upon.
With a demanding of nothing more,
Than to have their valued fiction.
Normalized as had been before.
If not better!
'How long has it been,
Since the government came to assess...
Your terrible loss?!'
'FEMA has been here,
Everyday for three weeks.
And still I have nowhere to replant,
My prized Roses!'
'What about your home.
The antiques, bathroom.
And food you loved to eat?'
'That will take time.
And I understand that.
However...
Gone,
Is my ability to impress the neighbors.'
'Uh...
If you don't mind my asking.
As I look around,
There is not a tree or house to see found.
Anywhere to impress anyone.'
'Okay.
Accuse and blame me,
For being and thinking proactively.'
'I don't intend to question,
Your motivation.
Although...
Those Roses you carry.
In that roll of toilet paper?
Will do what for you and when?
I can take you to shelter?'
'I'm fine.
My business is mine.
I will call an Uber.'
'Ma'am?
I am the county sheriff.
I can not leave you here alone.'
'That's what my husband said.'
'Oh, okay.
Where is he now?'
'Buried over there.
Where the backyard use to be!'
'Ma'am?
I am going to ask another question.
Be careful how you respond.
Did you happen to...'
'Happen to what?
Kill him.
Then grow my precious Roses,
To hide the evidence.
Of his unexpected death?
How dare you insinuate,
That I would do such a thing?
Just to have my precious Roses,
Bloom to be the envy of my neighbors.
And...
Besides,
He said to me...
Before I witnessed him die.
His wish to do it,
Was to be done as naturally as possible.
Giving my Roses,
The perfect spot to be noticed.'
'That's not the question I wanted to ask.
I wanted to know,
How long ago did your husband...
Decide to pass away?'
'I really can't remember,
When he made that decision.
However...
All I do remember,
Is him repeatedly telling me...
Leaving me alone,
He couldn't do on his own.
And tearfully I cried and cried.'
'Oh?
Why?'
'He was taking too long,
Making a simple decision!'
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Written on May 11, 2024
Submitted by lpahtillah on May 11, 2024
Modified by lpahtillah on May 11, 2024
- 3:03 min read
- 6 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | aabxcbdxbxxxexfbxbggdhbbixjgjf xhx xxbk xxb xbFxl xdbbg acc ggmcfxf nnf Oxp b ax xc Ogbb bxkixbdklbxcbbxkb xmba fgFfcppb me xg |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 2,701 |
Words | 602 |
Stanzas | 19 |
Stanza Lengths | 30, 3, 4, 3, 5, 5, 3, 7, 3, 3, 1, 2, 2, 4, 17, 4, 8, 2, 2 |
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"Truth Offends" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/187547/truth-offends>.
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