Mr. Honesty — The Truth Said Anyway

Lyrics

It was Tuesday evening.
Nine o'clock.
The laptop screen was the only light in the room.
He sat in the well-worn leather armchair, springs creaking.
A mug of peppermint tea, held tight in both hands.
The drafts folder held seven different versions.
Seven ways to say the thing that had to be said.
Words deleted, rephrased, softened.
Trying to find the gentlest way to set a house on fire,
so they could build a new one from the ash.
He pressed send.

And the truth went out into the world.
Not a hammer, but a key.
A very small, very cold key.
The thing nobody wanted to hear, said anyway.
The thing you say to save a marriage.
The thing you say and then you wait.
You just wait.

Then it was Sunday afternoon.
Three-thirty on the dot.
On that green-painted park bench by the pond.
The paint was peeling a little.
The same words, a different person.
A different friendship.
This time, no screen to hide behind.
Just the dry, papery feel of his own tongue.
The distant sound of children playing.
And a silence that fell after he spoke.
A silence that never lifted.

And the truth went out into the world.
Not a hammer, but a key.
A very small, very cold key.
The thing nobody wanted to hear, said anyway.
The thing you say to lose a friend.
The thing you say and then you wait.
You just wait.

One saved, one lost.
The same bitter medicine.
Samuel Johnson knew.
Truth is often more bitter than fiction.
He just holds the cup.
He just says the words.
He just sits in the quiet afterwards.

The peppermint tea is cold now.
The mug is empty.
The hum of the refrigerator.
The quiet of the room.
The cost of it.