Fooling Yourself

Try to sustain yourself on truth if you can,
but your noble aim will quickly come to naught.
Life is bitter, and so too are the actions you must take,
and they require skills that can't be taught.

Only the honest try to blind others, for they keep,
within their breasts a spark of life as it must be. 
And they will burn from the fire they protect,
knowing that others never wished to see. 

But you cannot afford the truth as they,
so burrow down within your very heart,
rip up the thistle that is reality, 
and you will find yourself right at the start.

Two paths to take, but only one will do.
Fool yourself, and pain cannot break through. 

Written for "The Jester" contest, sponsored by Kai Michael Neumann

Copyright © | Year Posted 2017



Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Date: 8/19/2017 8:38:00 PM
.."the thistle that is reality". I like that! Great Poem!!
Login to Reply
F. Avatar
J. I. Thomas F.
Date: 8/20/2017 11:34:00 AM
Thank you!
Date: 8/11/2017 2:34:00 PM
James this is good advice for anyone that needs it. This is my fav. have a nice day my friend.
Login to Reply
F. Avatar
J. I. Thomas F.
Date: 8/12/2017 9:22:00 AM
Thanks! You too
Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetics
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter