better right than real in poetry

every conspiracy theory started
with some desperate person deciding
their view of the world must matter more
than the facts of the given situation

when acknowledging shared reality would
force you to re-evaluate your everything
would kill you in a way but you don’t
want to die or even worse change so
you birth an Elaborate Falsehood
to save you from having to choose

between the lies that keep your world
concretely ordered and the transformation
that comes with facing the light of truth
clawing at walls you built inside yourself

whether you want to admit
jet fuel can melt steel or not
you either liquefy into something new
or ossify into something like a stone
raving madness
staying you