I see my father strolling out
under the ochre sandstone arch, the
red tiles glinting like bent
plates of blood behind his head, I
see my mother with a few light books at her hip
standing at the pillar made of tiny bricks,
the wrought-iron gate still open behind her, its
sword-tips aglow in the May air,
they are about to graduate, they are about to get married,
they are kids, they are dumb, all they know is they are
innocent, they would never hurt anybody.
I want to go up to them and say Stop,
don’t do it—she’s the wrong woman,
he’s the wrong man, you are going to do things
you cannot imagine you would ever do,
you are going to do bad things to children,
you are going to suffer in ways you have not heard of,
you are going to want to die. I want to go
up to them there in the late May sunlight and say it,
her hungry pretty face turning to me,
her pitiful beautiful untouched body,
his arrogant handsome face turning to me,
his pitiful beautiful untouched body,
but I don’t do it. I want to live. I
take them up like the male and female
paper dolls and bang them together
at the hips, like chips of flint, as if to
strike sparks from them, I say
Do what you are going to do, and I will tell about it."
- Sharon Olds
Sandheden er nødvendigvis ikke altid sand for alle mennesker, men altid for nogle. Ingen burde have brug for mennesker omkring sig, som bare er der, fordi de ikke føler, at de kan være bekendt ikke at være der. Alle burde have brug for sandheden. Alle forhold er opbygget på (k)ærlighed. at være ærlig mod hinanden, men ikke mindst ærlig mod sig selv. Man skal tale med hinanden, i stedet for at tale om hinanden. og jeg retfærdiggør ikke mig selv eller nogen som helst. Jeg retfærdiggør hverken sandheden eller løgnen. Det er ikke en kontrast mellem det gode og det onde. For det gode og onde findes ikke i rene former. det gør sandheden og løgnen heller ikke. Det "gode" menneske, taler nødvendigvis ikke altid sandt, men det gør det "dårlige" menneske ofte. Er et menneske dårligt, hvis de siger sandheden og den sårer andre? Er det ikke en styrke, at kunne give folk en chance for at forbedre sig? Den rene form findes selvfølgelig aldrig. Sandhed og løgn, det er ikke to antonymer i den virkelige verden, nok mest kun på papir. Man ville nedværdige sig selv, hvis man sagde, at man aldrig havde løjet. Men så længe, man står ved løgnen, hvad er så problemet?

