I am diminished

I am diminished

With each passing year

Love is the only thing

Between me and obscurity

Put me to the sword

If you disagree

Pare me down to size

There is barely enough

Flesh to cover my bone.

I would be smaller

Without the intervention

Of an exaggeration,

We all do it

One way or another.

The truth is a leveller

But there are some people

Who forget what it is

To mean what they say.

Pile it on

One lie after another

The bigger the better

Catch me if you can.

It brings out the worst

In people

Head-to-head

Like rutting stags.

Butting up

For the right

To be right

Even when they’re wrong.

It doesn’t matter

I dare you

To tell me

The truth of it.

Love can break your heart

I wouldn’t have it

Any other way

My lies are bigger than yours

Which makes me a winner

Head and shoulders

Above everybody else

In self-delusion.

Not that it matters

A flying fig

When everybody else

Is at it.

Nobody understands

The meaning of integrity

And anyway

Whatever the truth is

It is for losers.

Only love pulls

Loose ends together

And wraps them up

In a neat bundle

To be kept in a safe place

Out of the reach

Of liars and miscreants

For the duration.

To be opened

Only

In the event of

A catastrophic

Stoppage of the heart.

Allegedly,

It will ease

In the passing.