Some Truths
(The following piece emerged from a truth-themed writing workshop I taught a month ago. The prompts I used follow the piece.)
The one true thing is that it will be the second thing that is true, not the first. The truth emerges with deliberation and reflection.
Where is truth buried? “Oh, right out back, up the road, a piece, past the trees, just keep walkin’ through the field, you’ll find it,” said the man wearing the straw hat and sucking on a blade of grass.
If I had Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth at my disposal, I would like to travel back in time and use it on Emily Dickinson.
Emily Dickinson wrote, “Truth is so rare that it is delightful to tell it.” Read her poems and you will encounter truth at every turn, although she never uttered the word truth.
I’ve never associated the word delight with truth. Truth as something delightful sounds strange to me. I think the concept surely sounds strange to a certain demographic of Americans who seem to have not lost the capacity to recognize the truth, but rather, to act upon it, which is a thousand times harder and requires bearing witness to falsehoods.
Emily also wrote,“Tell it slant.” Should one tell the truth slant? Perhaps this subtle method is the best way to wedge truth into someone’s cemented consciousness or bricked-up conscience. Perhaps it is the only way in these troubled times.
The truth America can’t handle is that we are a nation built on genocide and slavery.
Some academics have coined the phrase “post truth.” I have no idea what that means.
When you look at an Oregon clearcut, you gain an immediate, obvious truth on the immorality of how we treat the land. The biggest lie in Oregon is hatchery salmon. End the hatcheries and the truth would instantly reveal itself.
Truth Writing Prompts
What’s the one true thing?
Is there such thing as true love?
How does truth reveal itself?
Respond to: the truth will set you free.
What truth can’t America handle?
Where is truth buried?
You want me to tell the truth don’t you?
If truth were an outfit or costume of some kind, what would it look like?
What are the ingredients of a truth serum?
What gives truth a bad name?
What’s a political truth?
If truth were a landscape, what would it look like?
Suppose you had Wonder Woman’s lasso of truth at your disposal. What would you do with it?
The bitter truth is…?
Is a headline in a newspaper truth?
What is skepticism? Is it dead in the age of the Internet? Is it flourishing in the age of the Internet?
What am I skeptical about?
What part of American culture needs a health dose of skepticism?
What part/place of nature reveals truth?
Truth or dare?