Mundus Vult Decipi (The World Wants to be Deceived)-David Sarao
Mundus Vult Decipi (The World Wants to be Deceived)
By David Sarao
The troll-that-lived-under-the-bridge sat idly,
raking the talons of his right claw over stone,
the low/dull sound of ages on eons
The troll was hungry, and being a troll,
would and did eat anything
He was listening, hairy ears perked,
to two humans that argued above upon the bridge
The two friends, urban wit and charm dripping,
fancied themselves philosophers of a sort
Nothing gave them greater pleasure than
debating points obscure or unanswerable
Direct answers and actions made each
vaguely uncomfortable with themselves
and exposed their inability to think
outside the abstract box
Philosopher #1
‘To be truly free, we need to be able to structure our
culture around family values, to control
and shape the lives of our children’
Philosopher #2
‘Nonsense!
To be truly free, we need to be able to govern
ourselves,
we need to be able to raise our children as we see
fit,
to teach them what we believe to be important,
then let them decide for themselves what they want
Otherwise we’ll just have mindless drones thinking all
alike’
Troll to Himself:
‘Hmmmm….it sounds like the first has a heavier tread
than the
other……’
He licks his considerable lips
Minutes pass, and the conversation turns,
as a well discussed topic is wont to do
under a critical sun
Philosopher #1
‘I never let strangers into my house,
you never know where they’re coming from,
and by the time you do,
they’ve made off with the good spoons.
Always meet in neutral ground,
and bringing friends is a safe, strong bet’
Philosopher #2
‘Strangers can come into my house,
but I like it when they bring something,
some sort of gift or idea, just something so that I
know
they appreciate my hospitality
To best understand your enemy,
you must bring him into the bosom of your own home,
and embrace him like a friend
So whether friend or enemy, my course is clear’
Troll to Himself:>
‘On the other hand, the second one has a much deeper,
huskier voice….’
As the troll-that-lived-under-the-bridge
wrested painfully with the choice,
a veritable mountain of muscle
under a molehill of a brain,
the two continued talking
Philosopher #2
‘If I were to fix the world I’d …’
The troll-that-lived-under-the-bridge decided
Philosopher #1
‘Baah, what do you know? If I were to fix this
planet…’
And the troll came up and ate them both
Copyright C. 2008 David Sarao