“Truth Will Out”

The fool woke up one morning

And decided to have fun

So amok through the community

He decided to run.

He proceeded from the top

It’s the best place to start

And worked himself to the bottom

To the children in the park.

He started with a small lie

To whet their appetite

And he worked and worked it

From morning till night.

The more often they heard it

The more they believed

And the bigger the lie grew

The more gladly they received.

It swelled and it swelled

Until it fill the town

At first there was one carrier

Then they were many around.

Soon the country was overrun

With this one little lie

It swallowed up the truth

Such that few dare defied.

At first it was a minority

Than a majority it became

Until that lie became the truth

And in parliament reigned.

It dominated the courts

And it prevailed in the school

Yes, this lie turned truth

That was started by the fool.

But if that were all

I guess one could understand

But this lie didn’t just grow

It begat more lies in demand.

  

And soon that one small lie

Became many more lies instead

And soon the age long truth

Was felt better off dead.

For few would dare to speak it

That was not intellectual

In the universities and the schools

The lie was beneficial.

The source was soon forgotten

The fool that started it I mean

Remember he was the one

That started that brazen scheme.

At first the many had repelled

The lie in its infancy

But the bigger and wider it grew

They saw its expediency.

They saw how they could gain

In many ways they thought

And hook, line and sinker

Into the lie they bought.

And the fool that started it

Then scorned by all on the compound

Now holds a prominent position

Wherever the law is found.

Sworn to protect the innocent

Having pledged to uphold the just

The fool runs amok in the courtroom

The truth is lost in the fuss.

In concluding this poem I thought

Of a way to end this lie

But it has morphed into so many

That all I could do was sigh.

The fool has conquered this world

With his deceit and brazen lies

And the One that created him

Is the One he still defies.

I recommend we give God thanks

For the truth that still prevails

Amidst the lies the fool did spread

That morning he set his sail.

For “truth will out” Launcelot declared

In the Merchant of Venice play

Though the sea most sailed be that of lies

“Truth will out”; that’s God’s way.

Stewart Russell © 2016