Free Verse Poetry · Poetry · Poetry from the News · Sad Poems · Thoughtful Poems

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire (a poem)

Sumyanna

Liar

 

Lies,
beneath your tongue
become pregnant
they swell in the sweltering heat
of your pleas, your defenses, and apologies
though rendered with complete confidence
there is no confidence in the tales you knead.
Perhaps it is, that your tongue is swollen
could it be that your mother tongue has been erased
and the only thing that took its place were utter lies and larceny
but the truth does know that it exists, no matter how badly trampled
no matter how far that you may dig, nor no matter how deep
it speaks just at the moment you may beg for silence
when you creep across the floor in surly gait
looking over your shoulder, weary and weak
caught red handed, by the lies you dared to speak.

(C) Sumyanna 2017

Published by Sumyanna

Writer of poetry and seeker of knowledge. I hope to inspire and be inspired by my words and the world around me.

23 thoughts on “Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire (a poem)”

  3. Lies indeed are terribly easy to tell, but ow so difficult afterwards. Sometimes, though it is quite difficult not to lie, though I try my best not to, this seems to annoy Genevieve my wife. Though I think lies are best left to others!

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    1. Definitely. Right now… our media is full of lies, day in and day out. It drones on in on from one direction to the next. I look forward to a time of peace and less hostility. My heart does no enjoy the sentiments that people hold lately. It is an odd situation to find oneself in. As for ourselves, we can always try. It definitely is not easy, but I find that when we lie… we end up getting caught. It’s easier on the heart to just fess up to it in the beginning (says I to my children) but then again, we make mistakes 🙂

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      1. Out here it is chaotic, the pres is accused of lying, the pres accuses the government of lying, and covering up a huge amount of corruption; government stooges attack the journalists, and so it goes on. It does seem that lying is slowly becoming a norm, which leads to yet more tension in our already tense world. How good the spin doctors are at covering up, and taking many words to say nothing, that sounds like something. Oh dear what a strange sentence. Let me rather stop here before I say something even more strange and un understandable.

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        1. Yes, we have the same stuff all day here as well. It is so incredibly exhausting that I promise myself I won’t read the news but then I do and then I yell at myself, “why did you do that?!?” I wonder why I hope or expect change. Probably mostly because we need it… desperately.

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          1. I often only look at the headline, or half watch the TV news, as it is so the same and so wretched… but I suppose I do so in the vain hope of seeing something different, some thing interesting, something that shows some hope.

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          2. I’ve been trying to stay away. Not always easy… at some point the thought eases into your head, “has anything changed?” umm… no. Not yet 😉

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          5. I have been doing the same. I actually read an entire book this week! Considering how much I love reading… you would think I would read more but the kids keep me busy 🙂 I feel much better when I place my thoughts elsewhere. Too much negativity around us right now.

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          6. Am also beginning to read more books again, I have missed it and am loving getting back to reading. Am reading Julian Barnes The noise of time,m a wonderful novel based on the life of Shostakovich.

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          7. I have missed reading. Right now I am reading 3 books. Most of them are on writing or writers. Well, one of them is about multiple intelligences. I love to read novels… but I often will refuse to put them down until I am at the end. I pick up another… and the same. It makes it difficult to live with others who demand your time 🙂 I find it easier to read through non-fiction and also enjoy learning a thing or two. I am thinking to start reading a book about Emily Dickinson’s life that I just recently purchased at a bookstore. I am conflicted these days because I just somehow realized that some people do not consider what I do to be poetry. I guess you can think about it in terms of what it must have been like to start a new artform for some painters way back when. They were told their art was horrible and yet now they are celebrated. Not assuming anything here should be celebrated at some point – but I do sincerely celebrate my own voice and will continue to do so (regardless how it is received). It is just depressing to see that people still want to delineate the beauty of something only by their own limited knowledge and preferences.

            Yes, I am unconventional. I don’t read the manual for my camera but choose to experiment and learn by hand. I don’t always take conventional views of objects or always worry about pristine, cleaned up views. Instead, I prefer the beauty that is already there – waiting to be noticed. My poetry eases my heart in difficulty, it allows me to touch upon the plights of others in way that nothing else can, it helps me be more humane and thoughtful toward others. There is a rhyme and a reason for each and every word – each and every line. There is a melodic quality to it that I cannot explain nor can I explain why it is written that way. The poet begs its own birth. I know – it is a touchy topic. I just feel that I have put my heart and soul into my poetry and was rather upset to hear that some people think that free verse poetry should not be considered poetry at all. These comments were made by die-hard writers of specific forms of poetry.

            I read a quote the other day in the multiple intelligences book that set my heart at ease though…

            “If Beethoven had composed music in exactly the same style as Haydn, he would now be noted as a minor composer, not a giant among giants.”

            and

            “If Picasso had only painted like Van Gogh, he would have been considered simply as a copyist and irrelevant to the history of art, rather than a towering presence in the pantheon of artistic genius.”

            It is not to say that everyone doing something differently is going to be a giant, but they do have great bravery for attempting what strays from the ordinary. Sometimes great things and beautiful things happen at those moments when we try to learn something new. I’m not going to change – and I’m so glad I found these quotes when I did. It was solace to a heavy heart.

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          8. Strate from the heart; but a very significant piece of writing. I try and read something from a non-fiction book, a novel, poetry and some Baha’i writing and prayers every day.
            I have also got caught up in this dilemma about what is poetry and how one should write it, and what one should write about, and it is difficult, but I am just carrying on with what I do, as that is me, and I have to like me, and my work or else there is no point in carrying on. If people enjoy it and it helps them, then I am pleased, and fell good, irrespective of what some other people think. I have started a new series of biographical poems,which I am quite enjoying writing. After having finished a poem, I often work on it for years, on and off until I fell it is just write, I think you are a wonderful poet and photographer, so do not worry about what a few stick in the muds think, enjoy it and your family, as you do, and all will be well.

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          9. I know I need to read more. I am just one of those that have a hard time putting things down. I guess I have just learned to take it in smaller pieces over the years. If I ever retire (ha ha) I guess that’s what I could do all day… read! Oh, but then there will be grandkids (hopefully)… No mater, I am surprised I am taking time for myself and reading. I have not done that in so long, so it is an improvement. I will just have to ease my way back into it.

            As for your poetry – I truly do love it. I find that there are more ways of expression than we ever realize. That is why I started “inventing” certain poetry forms, for the fun of it. I was inspired because I recently read about a poetry form that one woman invented – and it was not that long ago. That means the door is open wide in that respect. So, why not? I don’t think there could ever be a manual written that could truly teach what poetry is. There are so many facets and visions. Instead, I can only think that we could share a celebration of different forms of poetry in one book and invite the reader (and hopefully writer) to see what forms they can come up with on their own. There truly is not only one way. I’m sticking to my guns on this one 🙂 I can’t express myself with someone else’s words or someone else’s form. It has to come from my heart and my voice – or else it isn’t me. I’m fine if others find their voice in those forms – but life is not a one size fits all fantasy (and if you’ve ever tried “one size fits all” you quickly realize it really doesn’t). I am enjoying your biographical poems and I can’t wait to see what you share next. I am so excited for you – finding this opportunity to tell your stories in the form of poetry. You must be rather excited.

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          10. I always try to read widely, but find less and less time to read, the internet and my blog take up the reading time. I also hope to read more when I retire. I let the subject and my feelings at the time dictate the form of a poem. Many poems start out as a haiku type poem and then grow from there into something else. I must say I have never really tried to invent a poetry form.

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          11. I read more nowadays – since I have the blog. Before I had little time, but I always try to take time to read here and if a book is suggested… I will hunt one down 🙂 I just used to read all the time. My daughter is like that now. She walks around reading all day long. Wow – did not know you originally start out with Haiku. That is pretty fascinating. Yeah – as for inventing a form… I joined a group known for 14 line poetry (sonnets) and while I love reading their poems, I don’t write Sonnets. I have tried and struggled. It’s not that I can’t… it’s that there are too many aspects to watch for and at some point I get a headache trying to box myself in like that. I’m sure I could do it well but I don’t know if that is the voice I want to speak with. So, I tried inventing poem forms that I could use to learn to write fourteen line poems that have some structure. I guess I was only gutsy enough to do that when I read about a woman that invented a form of poetry not that many years ago. I was like, wow – you can do that? Why not?

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          12. Not all poems start as haiku’s, but some do and then grow. I have never really tried to write in a perfect form, as most of these forms are from the long past. Even writing Haikus I do not follow the exact form, but rather write, with my own number of syllables, etc, so who knows, maybe it could be that one day there could be an Elffersian Haiku! I only follow the line structure, and the two lines of description, and the last being some sought of statement or comment on the preceding two lines. I think it is very easy to get stuck in perfect form, and in that way write a weaker poem.

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