I Call This A Conclusion

what are pirates
if little kids
are taught
in insipid cartoons
that pirates share?
that pirates are fair?

what are pirates
if those kids grow up
and learn what pirates
really are?

what are pirates
if those kids forget
those insipid cartoons?

what are pirates
if they remember?

what are pirates
if a construct,
a momentary diversion,
a lark,
a blip on a radar
in an ever-evolving world,
definitions forever changing,
the static status quo
always shifting,
truths somehow altering,
facts here today and gone tomorrow,
the dinosaurs extinct forever
and then back again,
struggling into the popular consciousness
despite constant changes
about what they really were,
our fascination with a world
we'll never know
our insistence on fact,
or on ideals,
our hopes,
or our reality,
our fiction
demanding verisimilitude
except when it's cool,
and then being true to yourself
becomes a liability,

and what if history
is a different story
from the one we know?

well, I wish
the pirates knew...

Just Another Word in the Dictionary - Zooid

Zooid n. any one of the individual members of a compound or colonial animal organization

an organization
that behaves
as if made up of
a bunch of animals:

It's getting hard to tell
who isn't
part of a zooid...
(and I know animals,
so let me tell them:
no offense,
animals!)

Just Another Word in the Dictionary - Yegg

Yegg n. a criminal; specifically, a burglar or a safecracker

Someone who breaches
the public's trust:

It's become increasingly difficult
to tell
who's the yegg around here
as there are
so many
options

Just Another Word in the Dictionary - Xenophobia

Xenophobia n. dread of foreigners or strangers

dread of those
who challenge
your convictions:

Nothing brings out xenophobia
like an election cycle

Just Another Word in the Dictionary - Walleye

Walleye n. a large, staring eye

literally,
an eye on a wall;
Big Brother:

Walleye is
watching,
is judging
your every
thought
and action
and condemning you,
and Walleye is everyone
and that is
the world we live in,
where we now lack
all prudence
and perspective
and generally,
the basics
of good social
behavior
(and yet still have the gall,
somehow,
to complain about this
in others)

Just Another Word in the Dictionary - Valiant

Valiant adj. brave; courageous; stouthearted

politically
expedient:

They were known
for their valiant stand
against their enemies

Just Another Word in the Dictionary - Uncivil

Uncivil adj. rude; impolite

undeclared:

The divisions
of the country,
and the manner
or lack thereof
cooperation
between them,
marked an uncivil war