*****

The poet read of a study recently which pegged our average rate of untruth at about six in every ten minutes’ conversation.

*****

Recorded Reading (1:22): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/20dwe0j8v6btdhr6l27uo/Authentic.mp3?rlkey=z6e7yqwqj9mnx0wwi7j8hnwr1&dl=0

*****

Authentic

I’m int’rested in problem solving
Not int’rested in winning
In good communication
Not in reputation-spinning

Anything you hear from me
On any, any day
Only ever itself is —
I mean exactly what I say:

Not that which, when I stop to think
Of those whom I’m supposed to fear,
I readjust, in case somebody
Is nearby to hear

Not what I think that you will think
Will make me cooler than you are,
Not that whereby I may imagine
Points off someone else to score,

Not what I saw playing
Last night on the damn TV
Mod’eling for each citizen
What he or she should be —

Unlike our average adult
I can be trusted not to try
Every ninety seconds
To convince you of a lie

*****

This poet presently lives at a fraction of her nation’s poverty level.

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