For our second poem in CounteRculture, we  were tasked with creating a poem about a future utopia. I found this a hard poem to write because I don’t really believe in the idea of a utopia. Because of this, I wrote a poem about someone I could imagine as a global or cultural conscience. That is what I was going for in writing my poem, The Truth Teller.

 

ZF Future Utopia Poem from GCE on Vimeo.

THE TRUTH TELLER

There is a woman
she is old and wrinkled and she looks like the wind could just knock her over
if it got too strong

but it wouldn’t
she walks around my head
from corner to corner
from memories to anxieties
and she smiles at each one
and blows her magic. fairy. truth. all over my world.

she reminds me of a woman I know
I see her on the streets
she is probably a hundred years old
and she rides her bike
she is always riding her bike
I wonder where she goes
wearing her neon yellow vest, so no one will run her over
but no one ever will
she is too special

and she doesn’t let the rain
or the snow
or the sunshine
stop her

And she whispers in my ear
the truth that i’m afraid to hear

she does not care if I am happy or sad
for i am just like the weather, i change everyday

all she wants is truth
she doesn’t let me lie to myself

She tells me to breathe
she says its okay, hush now child
you will live through this

but she also calls me out
she says, you are being an idiot! do your work! stop being silly!

I wish the world had a truth teller
a wrinkled, old lady who isn’t interested in getting elected or convincing the people
all she says is the truth
not your truth, or my truth, but the truth.

Someone who will reach to the corners
and tell us to wake up and make up for our mistakes
because she knows that they ARE mistakes
but that doesn’t mean that they are wrong.