Confetti filled vault
anecdotally filled with
all the lies you’ve ever told.
Would it hurt you to read
as much as it wouldn’t have hurt
all the people you lied to
to spare their feelings?
“I didn’t mean to say that”
“No, I wasn’t”
“I promise”
“I’m sorry.”
This reciprocity of intimacy
we’ve all feigned to protect
praying they’ll never find out
falling prey to knowing better
than tell the truth.
Are we all keepers of vaults?
are they all just as full as the next?
Are we protecting each other
fibbers
bitter
from all the truths we wish
we could’ve saved ourselves from?
Thanks to wordslikebreath for the prompt “vault” and to A.P. Christopher for the word “reciprocity”! If I use a prompt you’ve left for me, I’ll give you a shoutout!
elleguyence 
Wow, Elle. This one opened me to thinking about having compassion….more compassion….for us all. Really cool. Thank You and Cheers! ❤️
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Aside from the by-now foregone weekly salute to your acumen, prowess and style, the whispered answer to the poem’s question is “Yes, we are”.
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Thank you for sharing. While lying is perceived as wrong, I’ve yet to meet someone who has never lied. Maybe it’s inherent to us all, no matter how moral we think we are.
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Very true, but you put it in a way everyone wants to read the next line. Well done
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I get you. Enough truth to get by, “you have given me so much of what i want,” I will compromise with deception. This is what I wish I had written in the days of my youth. It is still the truth.
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You spawned 5 haikus for me. look and see. I bet more are lurking.
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Wow, I’m honoured! Send me your blog link and I’ll take a look now.
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We all lie. Sometimes it isn’t so much that we don’t trust other people, but we don’t trust ourselves.
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It’s a good word, right? Reciprocity…it just sounds poetic…plus it’s just a good word… 🙂
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Hahaha thank you for blessing me with it!
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And thank you for using it… 😁
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Beautifully written with great imagery as always. Eloquent and reflective. Love the originality of this image within the context of the whole poem: “Are we all keepers of vaults?”
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Thank you so much!
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You are welcome.
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This is a very intelligent write-up in which all of we “humans” are guilty of….long time elle
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Such a thought provoking poem. Yes, I think there is a confetti filled vault within us all. Our of fear of hurting another, or of being hated, we lie, lie, lie. It’s very rare to find a human being whom is blunt and honest. My girlfriend is one of those human beings, most of the time. For example, I gave an expensive gift once. As first she pretended to like it, but eventually she brought up to me that she wasn’t really all that into it! At first I was hurt. Then I was grateful, because I ended up returning the gift, getting my hard-earned money back, and finally gifting her with something she truly did appreciate (and it was a far less expensive item, too). May we be grateful to those keepers of vaults with the least amount of confetti floating around….
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She’s amazing! I’m always so worried about someone else’s feelings that my first reaction is to lie to spare them. But that’s what I was trying to convey here–is your omittance of the lie, more harsh than finding out the little truth you didn’t want to let out? Thank you for commenting, Tylor!!
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Yes, she truly is! And I think you convey the point very admirably. It makes me wonder how much suffering and anguish would be eradicated through a consistently direct (yet respectful) utilization of honesty. I’m thinking quite a bit, as those omittances surely haunt us.
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I don’t mean to be a random commenter, but your girlfriend is awesome!
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Pingback: Confetti – The Militant Negro™
i adore this. such a beautifully presented moral dilemma–i became so caught up in the eloquence of your writing that i almost forgot to question myself and my motives for the lies i’ve told xx
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Wow, ELLE. I’ve read this 100 times through now and still it keeps biting my mind open – what wonderful words.
Thank you so much 😊
Erin | http://kittyjadeblog.com
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This is really nice! So mysterious, and yet still simple and thought provoking. Or rather introspection provoking, considering it talks about something we all do on various occasions… Lying.
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Reblogged this on davidbruceblog #2.
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So beautifully written!
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Wow! You’ve nailed it again.
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Damn, girl! I like it!
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Love this! You are a beautiful writer!
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Powerful stuff! Particularly liked the image of a vault filled with confetti and the last line is strong.
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Thank you! So kind, coming from you and your wonderful work.
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