THE MUMBLER

There is a man,

of great praise and honor. 

People line up in great lines

to listen to him spit fire.

The man speaks to the people  

with passion and flames.

His speeches are lengthy,

his words are not tame.

Oh, his words, oh, his words,

how they cannot be stopped.

Like the 4th of July,

they sparkle and they pop.

His brow drips with perspiration.  

His mouth sprays passion...

But if you’d stop,

and you’d really, really listen, 

You might be the one to notice,

behind that intense focus,

Is a man with a plan,

and nothing but ulterior motives. 

Behind those speeches

of passion and poise

Is a man with a black heart,

only making noise.

If you’d stop what you're doing,

and flex your ear muscles

You might finally notice,

the man only speaks in mumbles. 

Now if you confront him about it,

he doesn't even deny,

He’d say, "People hear

what they want to hear. Give it a try.

You just need to stand up high

and give out a shout. 

It doesn’t really matter

what it’s about. 

Just be careful not to speak

any word too clear,

It’ll give away the illusion,

you’ll lose your lure.

So don’t say how you really feel,

say something incomplete.

Say something opaque,

obtuse, or obsolete.

Your scattered mumbles though,

make no sense in the air,

Will form meaning after going

in each individual ear. 

Your jumbled word will go in,

swirl around for a bit,

Until it forms a shape,

the perfect one that will fit

Inside each person's box.

The one they try to fill

With their own passions, agendas,

missions, and goodwill.

So each person will hear,

they’ll think, then apply

Their very own meaning

to the mumbles you let fly. 

One person could hear this,

and another will hear that.

It’s whatever they choose to hear

from wherever they’re at. 

You’ll receive high praise

for the things that they hear

Even though all you did

was open your mouth and stand there. 

But that's all they want;

They want their own fears to shrink,

They want to know that the ways they think are right,

are the right ways to think."

So the man goes on mumbling

on stage after stage. 

He even writes books,

and people love every page. 

But if you picked one up,

and began carefully reading,

You’d find only scribbles

and nothing of meaning. 

And if you’d confront him about this,

he still wouldn’t deny.

He’d probably even tell you

just how and why. 

"People judge a book by its cover

of course." He’d say. 

"If people like what they see,

then they're willing to pay. 

So after you have   your happy-go-lucky cover

All that's next is

to get in front of your customer.

Those that will buy will read

what they want to read,

Just like they hear

only what they want to heed. 

Ask the people, they’ll show you,

truth is subjective.

It differs from mine to yours,

to his, to her perspective. 

But if you ask me about truth,

I’d say it’s simply irrelevant. 

Haven’t you been listening?

Fine, then hear this final argument. 

You don’t need much effort

or thought for the truth.

You don’t have to worry

about something so uncouth. 

You don’t need to speak truth

when you have power and passion. 

You just need the right tone, the right suit,

and a stage to stand on."

Those are the words from the Mumbler himself...

So, watch out for those mumblers

who are everywhere.

They're quite hard to spot

unless you have a keen ear. 

So be careful, keep watch,

and always stay humble.

But don’t take my word for it,

for I tend to mumble...