expect

if truth not honored

or  ‘other’ deemed inhuman

expect betrayal

performances

debate performance criticized

for stammering pauses

but little said about the opponent’s

bullying accusation of causing WWIII

why are lies cause for celebration

rather than the basis for suit for libel ?

imagination v ‘alternative facts’

imagination opens up possibilities

to be tested against verifiable

or at least agreed upon suppositions

‘alternative facts’ encloses each person

within self by closing down

our means of communication

since what say has no basis

that conveys the same meaning

to another individual

a stitch in time

but we did not thread the needle

demanding truth, but giggled

at ‘alternative’ reality of self-serving

narrative and then chuckled at unkindness, whiny complaint, victimization and laughed aloud

at prejudice and hate, secretly, then openly cheered promises of revenge

“When is a monster not a monster?”

answer, evidently,

‘when he frees

the worst within us’

communication

if truth is not valued

if proof is not required or heeded

how can we speak together

and honor what is said and thought?

or each other?