Raj Arumugam (1955 / INDIA)

a)

if we tell lies, and repeat them
in systems
and create pleasant illusions
and comfy notions;
and make the lies so real
we believe in them ourselves
all that might get me where I want to go;
it might get me what I secretly desire


b)

and so one half of the world operates

but we must have believers
for the lie must be believed
for us to get where we want to go


c)

and believers abound
for perhaps in believing
(which is an easier option,
cozier than search and inquiry)
life becomes more bearable
more pleasant
and one feels one overcomes
one’s loneliness and
one feels the terrors of the mind die
in believing, in blindness, in trust


d)

and so the other half operates

and so the world goes
since our beginnings
with all our comforts and illusions