What if we all took up telling the truth
as a hobby?

What if, whether awkward and red faced
or free, unabashed,
we spoke in unadorned words,
straight from the heart?

What if truth-telling
became a skill to refine
as we got deeper,
more honest with self?

What if we dared be transparent
and frank
about all that we think, believe, and wonder
and – crucially –
said what we want

On Monday afternoons, at bedtime,
in meetings, on dates,
with the post office lady,
at late summer picnics,
and on the commute

What if we all made truth a pastime?
More than a lofty ideal
or noble pursuit
what if truth became habit,
so standard and common
it was never in doubt?

Would this chasten the boredom,
the middle age spread?
Wouldn’t it heighten the crisis but also its end?

If,
instead of football, or hockey, croquet or golf,
in lieu of baking and YouTube and scrolling the phone,
we practiced and laughed,
as we built up the muscle,
increasing endurance
until truth was routine?

What if truth and its telling
is the answer, to ending
the quest for fulfillment,
to “finding one’s passion”
and living our best.

Mary Luck