Looking but not seeing
A diamond in the rough.
Listening but not hearing
The wisdom or the complaint.
Touching but not feeling
The pleasure or the pain.
Turning beauty into vanity
Is a common gift.
Pretending to be kind
Is pretending to be.
Pretending to care
Is still pretending.
Doing but not doing
Is a trick of the mind.
Sometimes not doing
Is just more honest.
Honesty is a rare commodity
That we trade
Like goods at an exchange.
There is not enough of it to go around.
We buy and sell it
To own a small share in a moment.
Renting morals
Is the business of pretense.
Renting morals
Is cheaper than owning honor.
We can’t keep what we can’t afford.
I wish that honesty
Was not so expensive.