Honesty

A man
(a man who does wrong
and expects to get away with it
but who,
when considering the possibility
that he might be found  out,
thinks ‘Oh sod it, screw it,
I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it’)
sits in a garden and tells some lies
and then walks away smirking.

The world shudders a little
when the lies are released
but no one worries too much at first
because it’s clear the lies are lies
and that no reasonable person
will believe them.

But the lies
(some of them preposterous)
spread
and pollute the atmosphere
and other men
(it’s mostly men)
who need to cross the bridge too
pretend to believe them
and attempt to convince others
that the lies are true.

But the bridge is a toll bridge.
There’s no one collecting any money
but there is an honesty box.

Surely some of them will pay?