Pretense Poem by Dennis Ryan

March 30,2006

Pretense is always here.
You don't have to look hard for it:
most times it comes directly to you,
using ingratiating words like "friend"
and "trust" to get what it wants.
After it has gained an advantage,
it gestures resolutely, bows deeply,
then exits stage left.The problem is
it never really goes away; it justbides
its time, waiting for its next opportunity.
As if acting in a play, Pretense
seeks out the basest roles—
Iago, Goneril, Regan, Edmund—
slips into each comfortably,
plays eachto the hilt, and lets
the chips fall where they may.
I envy Pretense: it knows what
it wants and goes after it.