Untitled (Ix) (1993) Poem by Patrick Wescott

Do you understand what you hear?
Can you afford to see the truth?
Look past your preconceptions,
forget the stories told from a thousand lips.

Do you see what its like to be trapped?
To play a hand forced upon you?
Imagine your childhood, ripped away,
replaced by a harsh reality.
No chance to experience or learn,
just sudden realization of the truth.

Live in a place where truth is false,
and lies are reality.
Spoken by others,
yet forced on you to live.