Truth Kills Kings

Truth is dangerous. It topples palaces and kills kings. It stirs gentle men to rage and bids them take up arms. It wakes old grievances and opens forgotten wounds. It is the mother of the sleepless night and the hag-ridden day. And yet there is one thing that is more dangerous than Truth. Those who would silence Truth’s voice are more destructive by far.

It is most perilous to be a speaker of Truth. Sometimes one must choose to be silent, or be silenced. But if a truth cannot be spoken, it must at least be known. Even if you dare not speak truth to others, never lie to yourself.”

~ Frances Hardinge, Fly by Night

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Dedicated to Ashraf Fayyad, poet in Saudi Arabia who is being condemned to death. Mohammed Harbi in Egypt who is making a collection of poems as part of the campaign “Save A poet With a poem” �" this is my contribution…

Truth Kills Kings

More powerful than the sword, the truth kills kings,
Who seek to silence it, spill the inkwell dry,
Kill the poet who writes of the ugliness:
Refuses to write of beauty of flowers:
Sheds no blood but his own in his one man war.

Tyranny comes from fear: let us be feared
Not by children in schools who read our writing
For words are not bombs that rain death from the sky
But an eruption of ideas for the minds
That seeks the truth in darkened rooms and nations
That’s spoken truest by those who died for speaking.

Reference:

Reuters

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Reviews

[Norman 223]

The more I read of your work, Tomas, the more I want to read. You write with compassion,and logical thinking with out the obscurity of language, which is so favoured by poets, these days.

This piece is particularly moving, as it shows how oppression has now become an excuse for religion.- a reversal of some earlier concepts. of heresy.

More power to your pen!

Norman

[Great Aunt Astri]

YEs. One does have to be careful of speaking out about things we know to be true. But I am reminded of the story of the boy who saw that the Emperor had no clothes. Everyone else pretended he was not nude!
'More powerful than the sword'. You tell it well.

[David Scott]

One man's truth may in fact be a falsehood... To quiet harmful lies can be an honorable war. To speak hope and love in the darkness can put a target on your back as well.
Worth consideration how dangerous it is not to listen and discern truth.