SOMEBODY LIED: A POEM, I THINK.

Somebody lied.
He said I had the right of it;
Go to school, get knowledge,
Get a job, then get the girl,
The car, the house and money
In the bank but it was false.
The school had no knowledge,
Just educated acolytes
Of dead philosophies.
The job had no pay and my boss
Took the girl, the car, the house
And the money in the bank.

Somebody told the truth.
They called him names,
Then smeared his name,
Then they tore his name
From his lips with bullets.
Somebody demanded for justice.
They gave her a well to dig,
Then gave her a broken shovel.
When she demanded for right,
They gave her power and
Stepped aside while she
Staggered, stumbled and fell.

Somebody wept for home.
They forced rice between his teeth,
A girl between his hips
And injected liquored courage
Into his blood until bold
He forgot his tears and
The gods themselves, he battled.
Somebody preached of salvation,
Then hope and gifts of the kingdom.
They gave him a car to drive
And all he could see in the Holy book
Were tithes, offerings, seed sowings
And prophecy.

Somebody held me
When I fell and told me
It was fine but he lied.
When I pleaded for water,
They gave me spittle filled words.
When I pleaded for peace,
They told me peace came with death.
When I begged to die
They told me I had to live to testify.
When I tried to testify,
They turned my testimony
Into a poorly scripted soap opera,
Destroyed box office records
And gave me tickets to see me weep.
Somebody always lies.

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_{Unsplash:Michael Drexler}

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©warpedpoetic, 2019.