by Cheryl, Gulf Coast Poet

Veracity

Hypocrites and Liars. Photo by Mohamed Matar from Pixabay.

Veracity

Sometimes,

it is difficult

to determine what is true…

even more difficult…

to admit

when we have been misled.

Outright lies,

deceptive advertising,

political spin…

Ever wary,

we yearn for authenticity.

We yearn to trust.

Insincerity,

insinuation,

little white lies,

half-truths,

exaggeration…

Everyday dishonesty erodes trust.

Speaking truth,

we long to be trusted,

but we are met with skepticism.

We wonder why…

Do we all suspect in others

the faults we harbor in ourselves?

Copyright© 2022 by Cheryl Batavia

80 Comments

  4. Oh Cheryl … ‘great minds think alike’ … here I am writing a poem about “sick tongues and lies” …. so I can totally grasp the essence of your profoundly worded poem … .🤗😉😎

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    1. Thank you, Radhika, for your thoughtful comment. ❤ I agree with you. It is human nature to view things from our own perspective. While two witnesses to the same event may be telling the truth, the stories will not be identical. I think it is very difficult to be objective, but I think it is vital that we try.

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    1. You seem like a man who seeks self-knowledge as well as honesty, Jim. Thank you for your thoughtful comment. Maybe you should take it easy on yourself. 🙂

      I think, most of the time, honesty is a matter of degree. We all are subject to temptation, even if we don’t act on our impulses. There is quite a difference between complimenting someone on ugly new shoes and lying under oath in a courtroom, although it could be argued that both are dishonest. Have a great week! ❤

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  12. So well said Cheryl and sadly true!
    nicely pinned!

    This last line sums it up.

    “Do we all suspect in others

    the faults we harbor in ourselves?”

    My dad is suspicious of everything and this is him to a T! Sadly, he always thinks we’re trying to sell him something because well, he was the best blue suede shoe salesman alive.. ugh drives us cra cra!

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    1. I agree with you, Veena, and I can relate. Sometimes, no matter how diligently we tell the truth, people don’t trust us. All we can do is take comfort in the fact that we did our best! Thank you for your thoughtful comment! ❤

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  16. I loved the question you have raised here. We need to dig in before judging what the media shows. So much is to learn but we try to stick to what is shown.
    Your poetry has said a lot much. Love it. 💖

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    1. Thank you, Kritika, for sharing your thoughts. Trust is certainly an issue with the US media. There is so much conflicting reporting, we all know someone has it wrong. People don’t know who to trust!

      I am happy that you love the poem. It means a lot to me. ❤ All the best!

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  18. Being a basically truthful person, I used to assume others were truthful too, then discovered I was gullible. Now, I try to keep an open mind, but take most things with a grain of salt. Maybe that’s why I like animals – they are usually honest. My dog can be sneaky sometimes though.

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  19. Sadly true. The thing I am most bothered with is that untruths and spins are spreading outside of just politics. Sometimes it is hard to know whether to even trust a friendship. 😏

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  20. Once again, a well crafted hard bite into today’s reality. I used to get furious at the misinformation purveyors that bombard us constantly trying to push a nefarious narrative. Eventually I realized that is nothing new and turned the ire around to the shocking loss of intelligent scrutiny, validation and debate by consumers. In my opinion it started with the efforts to silence contradictory opinion, but it is clearly deeper seeded than that.

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    1. Thank you, Brian, for your thoughtful response. I agree that we need to do due diligence in our dealings with others. I tend to go with, “Trust, but verify.” Robert is very trustworthy and values truth as much as I do, and I am thankful for that! If I discover that someone has lied to me, I don’t ever trust them again. 🙂

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    1. “Guilt” is a matter of degree, I think. Pretending to like someone’s new outfit is not in the same league as lying under oath in court, but it could be argued that they are both dishonest! 🙂

      Thank you, Kate, for your well-considered comment! ❤ Your support means a lot to me.

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  23. I’ve read that most folks actually believe to some extent that the world revolves around them. Few actually notice or care about what others have to say. I have found that to be somewhat annoyingly true. When I talk to people and they change the subject about them not really caring to hear the answer to their own questions of ‘How am I doing?’

    With all the ill winds, it is indeed hard to trust the news, politicians and other selected professions.
    Life is a huge stage and there are so many masks that the actors as well as the audiance wear.

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    1. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Jules. ❤ Your comment is very much appreciated.

      We used to have a neighbor who, if forced to speak, asked, "How are you doing?" He never expected an answer.

      "All the world's a stage…" William Shakespeare. It seems that nothing much has changed, except maybe the degree to which we are experiencing dishonesty in public life and in some media.

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      1. And the only real thing that has changed about the dishonesty in public life and some media is the swiftness in which we are bombarded with it.

        I wrote about my heron siting today (here);

        one heron
        swift quiet gliding
        eye witness

        © JP/dh

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      1. That must have been an interesting ‘watch’.
        One year in winter I watched two hawks take apart a squirrels nest in a back tree – But the squirrel got free when the hawk that caught it opened the wrong set of tallons when it landed on the snowy ground!

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  24. Speaking truth is the most powerful tool we have, but sadly often people forget about this. They tell lies for their own interest and we blindly believe them. This is also a sad truth.

    Thank you Cheryl for pointing this out on your post. You’ve presented it so beautifully.

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  27. Do we all suspect in others the faults we harbor in ourselves?

    People with the suspicious nature, don’t look for the truth. Even if they do, they’re not interested in believing it.

    We should recognise our faults and their causes, so that we could work to improve them, becoming a better person.

    Also, We appreciate the good and courageous efforts.

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  32. It is difficult to listen to listen with our ears and not with our mouths, only waiting for the next time *we* can speak. It is a skill we must practice, and be ok failing at sometimes. It is difficult to trust that more often than not we do not need to speak, but simply listen to hear, and think about what we have heard.

    Thank you for sharing. ❤️

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