DELUSION
Delusion--Ah, the fantasy world
with pictures of grandeur and splendor
and empty politicians promises
like the false prophets philandering
their filthy facsimile
From delusion's trap set me free
to face the facts of reality
stripped naked, stark, blatantly
displaying its every facet
to starving eyes and ears
that strive for truth
Cut through the fancy frolic
and the elusive words of facade
the pretence, the mask, the unreal
and carve instead the image
true to life in all its rugged glory
Like the mountain's hewn cliffs
where the eagles nest
and where water wears its etchings
deep into time worn crevices
ever flowing in the deep path
cut in stone, eons in the making.
Don't paint the pretty prostitute in
tailor made clothes that tell a lie
Don't paint the old hag a face lift
And don't paint the old drunk a saint
Or the street urchin smiling
Paint the pain of lost pride,
lost integrity, lost hope
But only where it is so
and likewise capture the beauty
of a child's eyes aglow with love
and the old woman in prayer
kneeling, fervently seeking her God
And the old man, with wrinkles
earned by toil, strife and pain
as he looks back upon his life
with pride and thanksgiving
For delusion with its fantasy
carves deep trenches in the soul
and leaves scars upon the spirit
that only God can know
the depth, the pain, the sorrow
caused by lies inscribed therein
where no truth, however bitter, can compare
Or bittersweet, or horror
‘tis better than the empty words
of empty prophets, politicians and painters
of the putrid lies delusion occupies
Its stench, reaching beyond the sky
Ah delusion, filthy fantasy.
4 February 1993 (c)
Patricia Ann Laessig