Eyes: By the searing immediacy of the brutal screen, by the sound bite,
By the ads, by propaganda,
By pictured lifestyles, by cooing to the little mite -
The flautist knows how to pander.
Head: ‘Here is the news’ - where viewers may forget their ignorance,
Where politicians, with truth so economical
In their effort to confuse the issues or bind allegiance,
Convince the most non-committal.
Eyes: Then there is bad faith between rich and poor, North
And South, that places the truth
In self-interest’s service - while children starve, call forth
Their natures not, nor ruth.
Head: Bad faith’s the ideology that has no name. If the eye
Is unshuttered, the mind should be likewise:
Vanity Fair is a treacherous city to spy,
For the truth is subtly falsifies.
Eyes: By narrowing reflection to a tiny spot in the market-place,
Not appraising nature’s economy,
You’d show a willingness to deceive yourself, to efface
Your search for truth and autonomy.
Head: True to my past and pursuing my self-fulfilment,
I will keep faith with myself;
But it’s death to me, if you turn from the truth’s instilment
To eye-ball the goods on the shelf.