#201 (2022)

It is impossible to know the truth
Nowadays. The truth has been muddied
And butchered so many times,
It is now unrecognizable.

In today’s time, the truth is like
A victim who got their face mauled
By a grizzly bear — nose, eyes, lips
Missing — they do not resemble what

They look like before the attack.
The truth, in modern times,
Is akin to making yourself some
Hot, strong, and nice black coffee in a mug,

Only to violently end up pouring
A whole carton of milk on it,
As your muscles spasm uncontrollably
Because you were having a seizure.

Sure, one can argue that the contents
Inside the mug is still coffee,
But the color, texture, and taste —
Especially the taste —

Would be a farcry from the strong,
Hot, and nice black coffee you wanted.
We can blame misinformation for this.
We can blame propaganda for this.

We can blame organizations,
We can blame individuals,
And we can blame conspiracy theories
For twisting the truth to such extents,

But at the end of the day,
If we are looking for the real culprit,
We need only look in the mirror
And blame our gullibility for this horror.

It is impossible to know the truth
Nowadays, but not because we have been
Led astray by evil forces beyond
Our miniscule control over life.

It is impossible to know the truth
Nowadays because “any man is liable
To err, but only a fool persists in error,”
A term coined by Marcus Tullius Cicero,

And my God, there are a lot of fools today;
And it might even include me.

07–20–2022
23:21
Kregian Vareare Miral

Hey guys! How are y’all doing?

I wrote this poem to express how I feel like the truth is being muddied in the modern era we now live in. See, fake news, propaganda, sensationalist spins, and disinformation — which then shifts to misinformation with people sharing something dishonest — is spreading like wildfire. AI has even made those things much easier to make and spread, effectively turning the dial of lies to 11.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you in the next poem!