The Tangled Web

The Tangled Web Lines on her face grew deeper when fabrications were conceived When further contradictions came, she knew not what to believe Caught in a lie I’d be sent to my room; there’d be no reprieve Mom said, "A tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive” My boyfriend had no license yet; we wanted to double date To get my mom’s permission, a lie I had to perpetrate Claimed the driver was my boyfriend’s brother to mom’s fears abate This was the first strand in a tangled web I chose to create When the invitation to his wedding came, mom was irate The “driver” had another last name, more lies I did inflate “They have the same mom, just different dads,” but this did not equate She’d met his Catholic parents; divorce was against our mandate “His older brother’s father died.” This made my mom a skeptic I wish mom would have washed my mouth out with an antiseptic For now the web that hovered above had grown so very thick Mom was on to me for sure, so she devised a clever trick At mass my mom asked his where her first husband had been buried How quickly she responded, “I’ve never before been married.” For two years these lies had grown, and so much guilt I had carried This snowball led me to declare I’d never again mislead Though the truth may bring results that are unsatisfactory You won’t be covered by webs built of story upon story And when the truth prevails, you won’t see eyes accusatory Or spend your teen years in a room filled with falsehoods’ armory *True story for Paula’s “My Parent” contest