A Death

The facts, mam, just the facts.

That's all we really want,

that's all that we really need

just the plain and true facts."

 

Well, if you ask me it's clear

I was sitting right over there

and he had this strange look

seemed to be nervous or shook.

 

Yes, mam. Did he say something?

Did you clearly hear anything?

 

Not so much of what he said,

it was more the way he spoke

maybe he wasn't even serious

like it was some kind of a joke.

 

Yes, mam, but what did he say?

Can you help us in that way?

 

I couldn't hear him all that well

and his meaning was hard to tell

his mind seemed a little spacey

and words sounded quite phony

 

like they weren't even real words

just made up or maybe invented

perhaps he hadn't really heard

what someone spoke or intended

 

But I do remember one quite clear

something he most surly said

and it struck me with a great fear

he said, "I killed it, truth is dead."

Author's Note

I have a great fear we are at that place.

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

oh man!!! i love this .. sharp satirical political commentary says i! call me a conspiracist; but nothing like chaos, confusion, lack of trust and frustration to manipulate and control a people. well done! i say a comment you left and thought i would stop by .. glad i did!
E.

[carl]

thanks for the read and review. so glad you took the time to read some of my work, I will return the favor asap. - currently working on some clay to be in a local pop up art venue so making, glazing and firing while dodging local thunder storms for fear of losing power mid fire, not a helpful thing, take care and thanks again -carl

[Einstein Noodle]

too cool to be involved in other creative arts ... i had a good friend on MySpace when it was a friendly place for writers .. she was also a potter ... built her own brick kiln fired by wood... her and an assistant would tend it for however long it took to finish the job... MySpace closed doors on writers and i lost touch with her... one of her pots sits on the hearth with pride. ;)

[D. Mansfield]

Love this! Love it! I hadn't read any of your stuff until you popped up in a review tonight. Thank you for doing that, because it gave me all your writing to enjoy

[Farjana Chaity]

the essence of uncertainty and doubt, as the witness grapples with conveying a cryptic encounter, beautiful writing ~ chaity

[Soren]

A great style here to tell a tale. I enjoyed the old TV series reminder. The rhyming took over but the hook was the last line which is true. An enjoyable read.

[carl]

thanks for your time to read and review, much appreciated, be well- carl

[Relic]

I recall telling a friend once - the title to every episode of dragnet started with the words the big...

We've always been lied to by our government and the media. Propaganda and cover-ups have been going on before the Kennedy administration. Today it's worse than it ever has been. I doubt truth and justice will ever get their due anymore. Welcome to this century.

[carl]

appreciate your read and review, one of my favorite books ( fearfully enjoyed ) is 1984. Well, we are arriving a bit late but here we are.

[Andrew John]

I can see the same thought that FG Franklin has put on this page. I love this poem, Carl. (I had a brain operation four years ago, and I'm sure I killed some truth at some times, before the brain began to reshape itself. I wonder whether they left the brain there but put sawdust in there!)

[carl]

I fear we are all getting our brains stuffed with sawdust on a daily basis. I firmly believe truth will always be present, but my fear is we will no longer be able to discern its presence, it will become an unknowable entity. thanks for the read and review. -carl

[Andrew John]

Nicely put, Carl.

[Lorry]

As we worry and look into whether AI spells the end for us, it may very well do, but I think we have missed the point (again.) We are the hand of our own demise and we wouldn't recognise the truth, or as you put it Carl, the facts, if they jumped out of our Soup and bit our noses off.
Some things suggest there is truth to this. None more so than the fact that Trump is running for a second go at it again!
I usually like to keep politics out of things, but seeing as he seems to think the same, I made an exception in this case. 😊

[carl]

thanks for the read and review, yours thought are exactingly as mine and the bend I was aiming for.

[FGFRANKLIN]

As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, "He doesn't know what the truth means, so he does not even know how he lies.” I laughed at the opening because I actually have a meme of Jack Webb in his role as Joe Friday with that caption stamped on it. I would never have dreamed Harry Morgan would end up on MASH. I love MASH, my wife bought me the entire series on DVD and I dig them out now and then to watch. But I digress. I find this very relevant to certain persons in positions of power today. I enjoyed the read. F.

[carl]

yes some of the old shows are more enjoyable and more relevant than the - humor in mash is excellent. those persons in power are the ones I had in mind. I do seriously fear for the demise of truth. I realize it will always be there but it will not always be known or spoken. thanks for the read and review

[FGFRANKLIN]

My pleasure.

[John the Baptist]

"the facts, ma'am, just the facts." It's certainly reassuring to find that someone else here is old enough to remember Detective Joe Friday. Apparently, the suspect confessed to having killed all truth. That tells me his identity: the internet.

[carl]

yes, what great plans we had for TV and look what it has become, so too the internet and surely what ever is ahead for AI. thanks for the read and review.

[Dave Brown]

In Canada at least, Trudeau has rearranged (shook-up) his Cabinet Ministers
That has just got to make everything all right again!

[carl]

yes, i'm sure a shake up in any government body is always a productive venture (yeah right!) to quote The Who - "we won't get fooled again"