don't believe the lie, okay? promise?






That's










the







lie...
That you are a liar is the lie.
Remember that horrible say you said?
Remember the awful do you did?
So
do
they.
And
they'll
never
ever
forget.
Doesn't matter that it's only a few who know,
Doesn't matter that only a few saw,
because it's out there, baby. 
They saw you act -- no, be --shitty, mean, selfish, crazy
and you
can't
take
it
back
.
The lie is that you are a liar now.
You can't do anything but lie.
Every single time you try to say good,
try to write true,
offer up any kindness...
you will be lying.
They know the wrong, and the wrong is wronger than any following right.
Liar.
Fake.
Phony.
Hypocrite.
We know.
Don't act so good.
We got the goods, sister.
And they're time-released
waiting.
waiting.
Always on deck.
Can a spring give both salt water and fresh?
Can a mouth give both praise and curse?
No.
No? Really?  Shit.
Okay....well, we mean it shouldn't.
Oh.  Well, that's totally different.
Hrumph.
but with that Hrumph,
the lie starts to unravel.
the Hrumph makes all the difference.
we already knew we shouldn't.
that's not news.
but if you tell us it's impossible to do both good and evil
and still be capable of any good,
we will always believe the evil.
Easy now,
Don't get all mixed up,
god says.
he's not the one rapping your knuckles.
The lie is to keep you still.
The lie is to stymie you into paralysis in your dark fear-cave.
The lie is to still you stiff as a stone until you are afraid to speak one bit of anything in your heart.



But Honey, oh Honey,
don't believe the lie.
Every single person has done the evil.
Maybe you're just surprised it was you this time.
Maybe you're just surprised someone saw.
And you don't need anyone to tell you that you're a liar anyway,
you already believed it.
What you need is someone to tell you to press on.
Keep moving, little fish.
I didn't say it would be easy.
You are not a liar.
Or if you are,
so is everyone else.
But if you give up,
if you get quiet,
if you don't offer any bit of right, true, good, beautiful that wells up in you...
maybe I won't either.
and neither will he
and definitely she won't - she wasn't that sure about it anyway
and it's going to be awfully quiet out here.
and the quieter it is,
the louder the lie seems.
for all of us.
if you have to hide,
hide for a bit, but not in that fear-cave

but don't forget to come back out after awhile,
because we need you.

"Come out, old troll, Come out of your dark hole, old troll, Come out into the sunlight with us and Let us put daisies in your hair . . ." [Charles Bukowski's "Women"]

from Silverstein's The Giving Tree.