prayers of thanks

many prayers of thanks
for those who demonstrate
how i must not choose to be

the history of our world
plays out each passing day
before these guileless eyes

you who proudly boast
to have acquired humility
as if it were a posh diploma
displayed above your mantle

i watch your moving lips as
you articulate well-chosen phrases
and trust that you believe in
what you say when you say it

but i also watch those lips
while you're not the central focus
there's a smug and spiteful sneer
curled there at their corners
when that someone you despise
dares speak such awful things
you cannot bear to hear

this tells me more than any
pious well-intentioned words
you could possibly express

though your lips and words do match
like some flim-flam carny act
it's your deeds that do the talking
and i ain't buying what you're selling

many prayers of thanks
for those who demonstrate
how i must not choose to be