What we know can be deceptive,
Exact, but not complete.
It’s the fool who is receptive,
To the charlatan and cheat.
The truth is far more subtle,
And difficult to grasp.
It’s open to rebuttal,
It’s the bastard of a rasp.
What’s real through comprehension,
(as absurd or somewhat strange)
Is worthy of a mention…
But sensitive to change.
. Throughout our lives one truth remains,
. Wisdom thrives where confusion reigns.

© Tim Grace, 23 February 2011

To the reader: Lack of knowledge begets assumption. Doubt accommodates the leap of faith, the jumping to conclusion; the guess. It also makes room for curiosity and wonder. For better or worse doubt provides a vacant opportunity. The cheat makes good use of doubt by cleverly distorting what seems to be a plausible reality. The charlatan, a cheat on steroids, makes vacancy a marketplace for the gullible; more fool us.

To the poet: Although written in three quatrains, this sonnet for the most part reads well in double-lined sentences. The even lines tend to echo the sentiment of the preceding odd-line. With this odd/even progression the poem builds its logical form and structure. Treating the two lines as a single sentence reduces the number of free standing elements and tightens the message; through fewer inserted thoughts.

one truth remains