I Owe It First To Myself To Be Honest Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

I owe it first to myself to be honest.
I use to believe it did not matter,
If I kept the depth of my feelings hidden.
But then I realized I had a wish,
To have at least one person unafraid...
To escape and leave behind their pretentions.

And today after doing it to strip myself free,
My ability to recognize honesty in others...
Is a feeling I get that is non-verbally expressed.
And I could care less,
Who accepts expressed pretentions!
I owe it first to myself to be honest.

I had been the last to know I'd been tricked,
By the foolishness of believing others had arrived.
To find myself deluded in the midst,
Of those too comfortable with the telling of lies.
I can now detect with my ears and eyes.
To leave my honesty disguised if I must.