a deeper premise of honesty

a deeper premise of honesty

has house rules for the telling

and house rules for hearing

the telling is over-eroded

by the listener’s assumptions

while the listening

is under-chaperoned by the teller

honesty is a proposed contract

presented to the listener

inquiry is the work

of this second party

as an out-of-context summary

in that it is redeemed

as working towards motive

or as account given from perspective

I have a voice inside

and he is my confessor

he is conscientious

and streetwise at the same time

he finds honesty

in all that he hears

and persists

to find its original intent

in what is being said

the common shared version

has a different value

to each party

can the buzz from honesty

be equal to the all

if dissected honesty

is an after-the-fact summary?

honesty is a designed occurrence

to survive reprimand

in an if-I-were-you

in a second-hand experience exchange

where I swap my version

as I expect you to hear it

for your personalized treatment

of my version said directly to you

silence is

as the agreement response requested

surely it can be upped

by anecdotal parallel in reply

certainly for a listener

to be contained by what is said

is not the underbelly premise assumed

by saying anything at all

for honesty among friends

is data added to the file

there is no position

of suspicion to entertain

the entertainment

is the embellishment of engagement

either by accounts of what you think

or what you say you feel

honesty invoked

in response to a question

has a set of needs

to be fulfilled for the listener

the response range

reflects a depth and a distance

white lies are mostly for those

considered strangers

while serious lies

protect or please

for relationships to persist

altering perceptions

to be seen favorably or impress

and pleasing others

to spare their feelings

are easy directives

deeply imbedded behind honesty

self-honesty

may be called Machiavellian

by another

because the clash in value terrains

is that severe

for there is

either common ground

or very little

honestly

the truth cannot be told

we are all barkers

at the self circus

step right up

come and see yourself

as you tell others

honesty is an overture

at agreement to agree

beyond that premise

is a false mirror of self-perception

that I communicate a meaning

does not mean

that I convey my being

when you go to a concert

do you get what you paid for

or do you take what you value

from what is offered?

we are all on-stage performers

with allegiances

but are we all as good

at being honest audience?

what would it be like

to be verbally vindictively honest

without being

vocally self-incriminating?

if Santa Claus were honest

would he really exist?

does compassion or civility

or kindness or sympathy

ever trump honesty

as to the essential intent

of an oral deed?

lying promotes an honesty

that is not revealed

it is a deducible truth

based on a manipulation of intent

when is a deception

a resistance to a privacy invasion?

the complexity does not reside

in what is spoken

but is inherent

in where what is said is spoken from . . .

a deeper premise of honesty

has house rules for the telling

and home rules for hearing

the telling is over-eroded

by the listener’s assumptions

while the listening

is under-chaperoned by the teller

honestly

the truth cannot be told

we are all barkers

at the self-circus

step right up

come and see yourself

as you tell others