Lessons I Have Learned Poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

There is not a price,
I will accept to be paid...
To disguise my identity.
Or the dignity I have earned,
From lessons I have learned...
About life and how easy it is,
When payment is involved...
And being manipulating evolves,
Into becoming enslaved...
To making impressions everyday,
Made.

I have earned from lessons taught,
And them learned...
Once one's soul has been traded away,
For money and things...
To eventually fade away,
There is nothing left for one to believe...
They have remaining left that's kept.
Except a regretting of pretentions faced.
With them known to masquerade in days gone.
When charading in those times have moved on.

And any payment offered to me,
To deceive others 'successfully'...
I will only accept,
If I could choose 365 days of every year...
To make any decisions or suggestions made,
From a location not detected.
And over a cell phone not monitored,
By anyone who believes...
The peace of mind that took a long time to get,
Can even be stripped away by Harriet Tubman.