Dear Friends, Family, and Fans,
This is another poem, that never made it into a book. I wrote it almost 20 years ago. It actually recounts what I remember of an event when I was about 10 or 12 years old. I believe in telling the truth. My mother reinforced truth telling by promising not to punish us if we told the truth. She would question our assertions by with “Scout’s Honor?” To which I would respond. “Scout’s Honor.” I was never an a scout, but I took that oath seriously. But one day, I was caught off guard. I did something that I didn’t want to confess to. I had taken one of the dimes, designated for drying the clothes at the laundry and bought a Ring Ding instead. The loss of the additional 10 minutes of drying time made a difference. The clothes were not completely dry. I took them back to the house, figuring, I guess, no one would notice. When questioned, the truth was not in me. I later confessed in a letter asking forgiveness. I remember that experience to this day, and it informs my decisions to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.”
Day 20: TO TELL THE TRUTH
Copyright 1993 Dr. Lindamichellebaron
My mother always says, “Do not tell fibs.”
She says, “Fibs only multiply.”
I was telling the truth at first.
I don’t know how it turned into a lie.
She asked me a simple question,
Then when I started to say,
A piece of the truth fell out of the story,
And then it got away.
So, there was this space in the story
That I had to find a way to fill,
And a half-truth popped into it,
Totally against my will.
So then I had to twist the story,
Move it around, just a little bit,
But when I tried to tell it,
An un-truth was the only truth that fit.
I really can’t explain it,
How right before my eyes,
The truth I know I should tell
Kept turning into lies.
Feel all tangled up,
Like I’m lassoed, gagged and tied.
I just want to say, “I’m sorry Mommy.”
And tell her, “The real truth is I lied.”
TO TELL THE TRUTH is one of my favorite poems from my treasure trove of poems.
Hope you enjoyed Day 20. Would you like me to light a spark at your school, college, or company? To book me:
https://www.mylindamichellebaron.com/book-dr-lindamichelle.html
Love and realness,
#DrLindamichellebaron
#PoetLaureateForTheTownOfHempsteadNewYork
www.mylindamichellebaron.com
This is another poem, that never made it into a book. I wrote it almost 20 years ago. It actually recounts what I remember of an event when I was about 10 or 12 years old. I believe in telling the truth. My mother reinforced truth telling by promising not to punish us if we told the truth. She would question our assertions by with “Scout’s Honor?” To which I would respond. “Scout’s Honor.” I was never an a scout, but I took that oath seriously. But one day, I was caught off guard. I did something that I didn’t want to confess to. I had taken one of the dimes, designated for drying the clothes at the laundry and bought a Ring Ding instead. The loss of the additional 10 minutes of drying time made a difference. The clothes were not completely dry. I took them back to the house, figuring, I guess, no one would notice. When questioned, the truth was not in me. I later confessed in a letter asking forgiveness. I remember that experience to this day, and it informs my decisions to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.”
Day 20: TO TELL THE TRUTH
Copyright 1993 Dr. Lindamichellebaron
My mother always says, “Do not tell fibs.”
She says, “Fibs only multiply.”
I was telling the truth at first.
I don’t know how it turned into a lie.
She asked me a simple question,
Then when I started to say,
A piece of the truth fell out of the story,
And then it got away.
So, there was this space in the story
That I had to find a way to fill,
And a half-truth popped into it,
Totally against my will.
So then I had to twist the story,
Move it around, just a little bit,
But when I tried to tell it,
An un-truth was the only truth that fit.
I really can’t explain it,
How right before my eyes,
The truth I know I should tell
Kept turning into lies.
Feel all tangled up,
Like I’m lassoed, gagged and tied.
I just want to say, “I’m sorry Mommy.”
And tell her, “The real truth is I lied.”
TO TELL THE TRUTH is one of my favorite poems from my treasure trove of poems.
Hope you enjoyed Day 20. Would you like me to light a spark at your school, college, or company? To book me:
https://www.mylindamichellebaron.com/book-dr-lindamichelle.html
Love and realness,
#DrLindamichellebaron
#PoetLaureateForTheTownOfHempsteadNewYork
www.mylindamichellebaron.com
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