Don't Shoot The Messenger

Don’t blame the middleman
if the deal turns sour.
Don’t shoot the messenger
if you don’t like what you hear.

I am just the messenger
passing on the news
(tainted by the bias
of my point of view).

I am just the messenger.
These words in my head
not really my own
but planted there by some other.
Who? I do not know.

Don’t be angry,
don’t be mad
if my message is a little sad.
I am just the messenger,
these messages all I have.

And if the message is distorted,
well then,
the whisperer at my ear should have shouted.
Sometimes my imagination
could use a hearing aid.

Words carry power,
words carry weight.
I am just the messenger,
not some weight-lifter
working out in a gym.
This burden more
than I alone should have to bear.

Not yet ready,
not quite prepared
to take sole responsibility
(credit, discredit)
for all I write and all I say
(maybe a little scared).

Responsibility anathema to creativity.
Probably why certain historical liars
declared themselves prophets
and let God take the blame.

Action.
Reaction.
Words
and their consequences.

Anyway it’s your choice
to listen or to send me away.

I am just the messenger.
Cast your suspicions elsewhere.

Why are you all staring at me?