98poems/lie

I have to watch myself
that I don’t say things
that aren’t true,
just because it’s easier
to assume that I think the cliche
things somebody might imagine
I do or should.

I have to be really careful
that I don’t lie,
the worst of sins for a writer,
just because it’s the quick and
easy way out, and I have a certain
taste for that.
Except, of course, for the part
of me devoted to struggle cause
it’s the Christian thing to do.

I’ve never been a poet’s poet
and probably never will,
but I have to keep trying
to tell the truth.
Maybe that’s why I live
where I do, in a house
without closets,
where everything you have and are
is sticking out in view.
Not for everyone else to see,
but so that you can yourself.

1/28/98