White Lies

We've all told them: a little lie,

no bigger than a thumbnail to you

and only ever to be known to you,

and nothing happens. Soon that lie

becomes two lies that grow in size,

and suddenly you've one for each hand.

Remembering two is easy to do, so 

what's two more and then there's four.

Four little lies running around makes it

a little harder to keep track, especially

since there's different people you told 

things too, and then suddenly there was

even more. How many exactly? That's a 

tricky question, because now there's a 

functioning network, and some seem to

have become the truth and others are 

hiding so as not to be remembered.

An intricate knit of truth and fiction, 

which unravels with a small tug,

and adds more loose strings every day.

So people notice, and one day, you decide to clean house,

and correct yourself, "oops. I was mistaken"

when you find one and "i was wrong"

on another. But no matter what, there's

always one left, and that one is the biggest one

that isn't even a white lie, that is a 

problem. A real problem, because you can't 

just take it back. Ask anyone, they have one,

but of course will say "no", so it may hide.

If there's no truth in what here is penned,

I'll take my own and make amend.

Reviews

[AliciaB]

This poem is very cool in its exploration of how complicated lying can become - how just one simple thing turns into a giant, convoluted mess. I like the line "and suddenly you've got one for each hand", as well as the metaphor of strings. Both do an excellent job of expressing the theme of how lying can develop into a major issue. The couplet at the end is also cool. Nicely done!