butterfly with eyes on wings
feigns appearance of predator
fools the bird that flying sings
of crunching grubs as creditor

clown with plastered face and grin
jovial and facetious,
masks the dismal depths within
pretext of roister specious

the solidness of form material
cloaks the inner truth
the vacuous space of air ethereal
that fills the world in sooth.

authenticity is hard to come by,
that's this world's DNA,
but that don't mean we shouldn't try
to be as honest as we may.