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Big Lies Aplenty<\/strong><\/p>\n Language is a tricky business, full of shading and nuance, J. K. Durick<\/strong> is presently a writing teacher at the Community College of Vermont and an online writing tutor. His recent poems have appeared in Third Wednesday, Steam Ticke<\/em>t, and Common Ground Review.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Big Lies Aplenty Language is a tricky business, full of shading and nuance, Power and play. I say one thing, they hear another. I say this But mean that. I\u2019ve lied some, told the truth on occasion, Talked nonsense with a straight face, preached gospels I invented for just the right moment. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4404,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4403\/revisions\/4404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nPower and play. I say one thing, they hear another. I say this
\nBut mean that. I\u2019ve lied some, told the truth on occasion,
\nTalked nonsense with a straight face, preached gospels
\nI invented for just the right moment. I have sold things over
\nThe phone to people who rose to the bait like pumpkinseeds
\nOn long hot summer afternoons \u2013 nibble, nibble, then snap-
\nBap, I got \u2018em. I have congratulated and cajoled, conjured
\nAnd concealed. I\u2019ve used words as weapons, blunt instruments
\nOver the head and got away with so much.\u00a0 I have amused myself
\nWith the world I build in words, long avenues paved with dead
\nAnd dying metaphors, buildings as high as paragraphs, forests
\nAs thick as syllogisms, dimmed by euphemisms, lit up with lies.
\nI have sacked cities and employees, groceries and goodness.
\nI have canned and freeze dried potent remarks, reheated
\nThem for later use, late night snacks, a comeback, a pyrrhic
\nRemark worthy of a master. I have brought language to new
\nHeights and worries. I have brought it to the top of the hill and
\nOffered it the world, at least all we could see of it for one trick,
\nOne measly trick to let me know who was boss \u2013 literally and\/or
\nFiguratively, the boss.<\/p>\n