March 08-B, 2023

Things are not what they are supposed to be.
Integrity is lacking everywhere.
Deception reigns.
Life is a trick 
done with lights, smoke and mirrors.

This photograph depicts an image
that does not exist in real time.
Bits and pieces of reality
make up the whole,
apparent but not actual.
A lie,
not the truth.

The thermostat on my wall reads 70 degrees.
The thermostat on my desk reads 67 degrees.
The woman with the fireplace company
says she will get back to me soon
with figures for a fireplace replacement cost.
It's been a month.
The sign at the auto repair place reads
"Service While U Wait!"
What it doesn't say is
"And Wait, And Wait, And Wait..."

Everything seems to be covering up something.
The political absurdity being played out
on Capital Hill,
"I'm not lying! YOU are lying!",
takes us far over the edge of reality
into complete nonsense
surpassing that of Alice in Wonderland
and Beyond the Looking Glass,
both of which remind us that 
this is typical political fare
reflecting typical social/cultural fare,
and the best we can hope for--
authenticity, validity, and reliability--
is a small group of two or three people
who have known each other for years,
and laugh at everything that is said.

(Except of course, 
on social media
where everyone is exactly 
as they appear to be.)

I don't see this improving with time.
I see it as an indication
of a New Dark Age
sweeping over us,
where no one can trust anything
they see or hear,
and everyone cries themselves 
to sleep,
only to have nightmares all night long.

All for the want of a nail
that is really, truly, actually,
I'm not lying about this, a nail.

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