The Burden of Proof

 

 

If I claim what I am not

Am I telling the truth?

And if I say, that’s how I feel

Is that acceptable proof?

 

If the truth is what it’s not

Then what is a lie?

A lie would be the truth

Can’t you see why?

 

They would be synonyms

Words that mean the same

Hence, right now you think

That I am insane.

 

This kind of argument

Is prevalent these days,

We have gone stark raving mad

In so many ways.

 

 

Truth is a feeling

That burns deep inside

And once I sincerely feel it

That truth cannot be denied.

 

There is a truth for you

And a truth for me,

And though diametrically opposing

It is the truth that we see.

 

I see it as black

While you see it as white,

We are both correct

The two are alike.

 

 

 

Similarities in differences

Difference in similarities

Truth and falsehood

Are established parities.

 

Established in the sense

That it was not always so

But given our recent knowledge

It’s a fact we now know.

 

I fear for our children

I hope you can see why,

The goalposts have been moved,

On what can we rely?

 

 

What will our teachers teach

If a lie is the truth?

Hence the title above:

That is the burden of proof.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019