Although I generally prefer to sit down with a poet’s book of poems, occasionally I enjoy browsing a poetry anthology to discover, or rediscover, gems of wisdom.
It’s been a while since I’ve read any Stephen Crane poetry, so I’d forgotten just how much I liked these short, ironic poems. Here’s one of my favorites:
The Wayfarer
The wayfarer
Perceiving the pathway to truth,
Was struck with astonishment.
It was thickly grown with weeds.
“Ha,” he said,
“I see that no one has passed here
In a long time.”
Later he saw that each weed
Was a singular knife.
“Well,” he mumbled at last,
“Doubtless there are other roads.”
How easy it is to forget just how hard it is to stick by the truth.
No wonder so few politicians can manage to stick to the truth, particularly when their constituents find it equally difficult to abide the truth.
It’s far easier to blame our problems on someone else rather than facing up to them and seriously attempting to solve them, isn’t it?
Doubtlessly there’s another way to solve the problem, one that will allow me to get re-elected.
Doubtlessly there’s another way to solve this problem, one that won’t require me to pay higher taxes.