Promises break like straw under foot,

Brittle, bending, crumbling under slightest weight,

No longer bound to man’s word.

Instead they are simply words of convenience,

Placating the concerned,

Enveloping those amongst the unconvinced.

Like sheep are these believers,

Led about by their staff laden necks,

Given sustenance just to hush their words.

No longer is honor a cornerstone,

A pillar of trust, as valued as a kings ransom,

Degraded, they are nothing but syllables, hollow and meaningless.

Yes, they may be voiced with a smile,

A handshake if the orator is so moved,

Yet sadly these have become standard props for their theatrics.

When did this happen,

When did the worth of a man become worthless,

When did men cower to pretense?

Maybe always, maybe of recent past, maybe today,

Knowing they are played like the strings of a mandolin,

But unable to reconcile their buffoonery.

One day the blinders may be lifted from impaired eyes,

Revealing the wolf cloaked in statesmen’s fashion,

Only then might shame resurrect us.

~

~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~