I Am Denial

I am the lie that you tell when the truth has been around for a while.
I am the falsehood that an irresponsible father uses to ignore his child.
I am the claim you made to the officer that you only had one sip.
I am the phrase “I didn’t inhale; I just put it up to my lip.”

I am the counterfeit justification of money you should have never spent.
I am the check-in-the-mail you know damned well you never sent.
I am the testimony “she wanted it” when there were tears in her eyes.
I am the false cold demeanor that pretended not to hear her cry.

I am the alibi of being somewhere else although smoke rose from your gun.
I am the clean urine sample that you used for the Olympic event you won.
I am the promise that you spent the whole night at work
although your girlfriend could plainly see the smear of red lipstick on the collar of your shirt.

I am your excuse for not having a job by saying you are in a rut.
I am the “big-boned babyfat” you say constitutes your humongous gut.
I am the coverstory a prostitute uses when she is not working in the street.
I came out of Ananias’s mouth before he fell dead at Peter’s feet.

I am your assertion of vegetarianism when you eat several pounds of meat.
I am the false ignorance of your hit-and-run that left a child dead, last week.
I am the drug you take to purge your conscience of people you killed in a war.
I am the threat you issued to witnesses that saw you shoot the man in the drawer.

I am the fraudulent claim on your neighbor’s child for your tax credit and deduction.
I wrongly legitimatized the War on Terror with the weapons of mass destruction.
I swiftly turn off the lights, so peddlers think you are not at home.
I am the motivation for bill collectors to blow up your phone.

I am the cause impeding well-deserved, insurance settlements and all of their delays.
I am the source of Katrina victims waiting for national help for five hellacious days.

I am the Swiss bank account that you use to hide the money you have stolen.
I am the bribe you gave to police to ignore why your wife’s face was swollen.
Don’t act like you don’t know me: we have been friends for a while.
Afterall, I taught you how to lie: I am denial.