A Promise

A promise is a contemptible thing

Whether by word or pen or diamond ring

Because most promises come from a foolish bloke

Whose lips before his mind have spoke

 

All promises root in an abstract idea

By a culture who disagrees constantly

And it’s become (to my horror) acceptable in regard

To give up on a promise when it gets hard

 

“I’d have done the same thing,” they say to console

And it is because of that that society whole

Is falling to pieces around me tonight

Because “I promise,” were once words that would fight

 

A promise is no longer a binding swear

It’s a buffer for grace, a little “Self-prepare”

Now a promise is really a guarantee of failure

There stands no more a promise-breaker assailer

 

A vow no longer means “Breaker, beware!”

No more do the liars a penalty bear

And now it’s acceptable to quickly back out

When a bind puts you in a bind so stout

 

“O be careful little mouth what you say”

If it is an oath cast aside at the end of the day

Then oath-breaker beware, fear for your life and soul

For I shall not be the one to you console

This poem is about: 
Me
My family
My community
My country
Our world

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