Not for Truth

 

 

You remember we would tell a lie

And then say “not for truth”,

And to show we were just joking

This would be our proof.

 

We wanted to make it clear

That the story was not true

Hence, “not for truth” would follow

And by this everybody knew.

 

I haven’t heard it for a long time

And so, this might be a sign

That everything is the truth

Especially in this time.

 

Because today truth is relative

And I don’t know to what

But that is what I am hearing

And not from a few but quite a lot.

 

We need to bring it back

So that we can know for sure

“Not for truth” means they are joking

Like we would joke before.

 

It is standard these days

To entertain another with a lie

And then convince that person

It's a fact no one can deny.

 

 

Then it spreads like a wild fire

With the claim it is the truth

Whereupon many will swallow it

And add their own proof.

 

How I long to hear “not for truth”

And to know they are joking

Even if I am the unfortunate person

At whom they are poking.

 

You see, I can take a joke

And you know that I can give one

But it is getting really serious

And the jokes are all gone.

 

And I won’t say “not for truth”

Because I am serious this time,

It is time we make clear distinctions

And stop boggling the mind.

 

I heard the other day

Something I could not believe

But since there was no “not for truth”

It spread with bull-cow speed.

 

It turns out it was not true

But the “not for truth” came too late

Whereupon the victim in question

Was left in difficult straits.

 

How I long for a “not for truth”

So that I can dismiss what I hear,

But “not for truth is a thing of the past

And this is the reality I fear.

 

Stewart Russell © December 22, 2021