The liar & the thief

Just something

When I was young,

my mother told me:

"family is all you got."

And so I believed her,

because she was my mother.

And never questioned the thought.

when I was young,

mother said:

"be honest.

your word is all you got."

And so I believed her,

because she was my mother.

And never questioned the thought.

And my father,

he sat me down once, 

by the fire and told me:

There were two men:A Liar and a Thief.

The liar was also a thief, but the thief was not a liar.

One day the thief went into a corner store and stole a loaf of bread.

He walked out and was never caught. 

The same day, the liar went into the same store and stole milk. 

He walked out and was never caught. 

They did this for days until one day both were in the store at the same time. 

The thief planned on stealing the bread as he usually did,

while the liar planned on stealing the milk. 

Yet, they didn't know the owner was watching. 

The owner had noticed that someone was taking his milk and his bread, 

but he did not know who.

Just before the two men were about to steal the food the owner comes from around the corner and says:

"HEY YOU MEN! WHO'S STEALING MY MILK AND MY BREAD?"

He looks at the thief and he asks:

"Is it you?"

The thief, not being able to lie confesses and says:

"Yes, it was me. I stole your bread, for I was hungry."

Then the owner looked at the liar and asked the same question:

"Did you steal my milk then?"

The liar with a smug grins turned to the owner and said:

"Of course not. Who am I to take from a honest shop owner? Look at the this man beside me, he already stole your bread. Who is he to say he did not also steal your milk?"

My father turned to me and asked:

"Now who do you think was punished?"

So I replied:

"The thief of course. The Liar never admitted to it."

So my father asked one more question:

"what does this tell you?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

He said: 

"It tells you two things.

One, you can never trust a liar. A thief may be honest with you, but a liar can never be. Remember that."

I looked into the fire thinking about what he just said:

"Then what's two?"

My father laughed:

"Never get caught."

When I was young,

my mother told me:

"family is all you got."

And so I believed her,

because she was my mother,

and never questioned the thought.

when I was young,

mother said:

"be honest.

your word is all you got."

And so I believed her,

because she was my mother.

Yet, honest men get caught. 

Author's Note

grammar is my problem

Reviews

[SquinklaPsyOps]

The message of the poem could be that honesty could be a target that demons might try to take advantage to try to get away with crimes.

The message of the mother when she says "family is all you got" could be interpreted that your children as a mother are your family and your responsability to guide them with the truth when she says "be honest.
your word is all you got."

The other message could be to do not confess when demons are near because they could try to wash their sins in front of other persons by taking advantage of honest persons.

I like the scenario presented it gives room for multiple interpretations.

[MoriartyMesa]

Very interesting, sort of reminded me of A.H.