The Truth After Taste

Title: The Truth's Aftertaste

The Long Shadow of a Lie

The meal was perfect, a splendid feast, A conversation,never ceased. A story told,so smooth and bright, That filled the room with gentle light. I took it in,I drank it deep, A promise that you swore to keep. The flavor was of sweetest wine, I thought that pleasure was all mine.

For years it lived inside my bone, A truth I thought I owned alone. It shaped my world,it was my core, I never thought to look for more. The taste of it was on my tongue, When I was old and I was young. A simple,sweet, and sure delight, That made the darkest daytime bright.

But then a crumb, a tiny thing, A note you forgot to sing. A word that didn'tquite fit right, A fleeting shadow in the light. It was so small,I shrugged it off, A minor cough,a quiet scoff. But on my tongue,a change began, A slight distrust of that first plan.

The sweetness started to retreat, Replaced by something more concrete. A metallic hint,a bitter smear, The rising tide of a new fear. I tried to swallow,to pretend The strange new flavor would soon end. But once the doubt had found its way, It would not leave;it chose to stay.

I had to look. I had to know. However painful it might grow. I went back to that perfect plate, To question what had been my fate. I sifted through the memory, The story you had built for me. And there,beneath the glaze and sheen, I found the lie,raw and unclean.

The truth, when finally it came, Did not arrive as blazing flame. It was a chill,a deep, slow seep, A wound that was too fresh to weep. The taste was not of fire and rage, But empty,cold, and solemn page. The feast was ash,the wine was brine, The truth was no longer yours,but mine.

And that is where the shadow falls, It climbs the mind and heart's high walls. It’s not the truth that cuts the deep, It’s all the years you spent asleep. It’s every time you laughed,content, On trust that had been misspent. It’s every choice you made based on A foundation that was gone.

The shadow lies across the past, A stain that’s designed to last. It rewrites every single scene, And questions what they all could mean. Were you ever truly you? Was any feeling ever true? The shadow’s questions have no end, On them,your tired mind depends.

Now, food has lost its certain zest, I eye each new and kind guest. I chew on words before they're said, The shadow lives inside my head. I miss the taste of sure and sweet, The innocent,the true, the neat. But I can’t ever go back to The person who believed in you.

For the aftertaste remains for good, A ghost of where the lie once stood. A constant,quiet, bitter trace Of stolen trust and fallen grace. It is the shadow,long and deep, That never lets you truly sleep. It is the price you pay to know, And the reason trust will now grow slow.

So mind the tales you serve so fine, On another’s heart,they dine. For though the lie may seem a grace, They’ll forever taste the aftertaste. And they will walk,as walk they must, In the long shadow of that dust.

That shadow stretches, year by year, A constant, subtle, silent seer. It dims the joy of newfound light, And tints the day with hues of night. It is the echo in the voice, That questions every seeming choice. The cautious glance, the guarded smile, The second thought that takes a while.

For what was broken, once, by deceit, Can never be again complete. Not in the way it was before The lie was found behind the door. A mending can occur, it's true, A stronger, different bond can grew. But like a bowl of shattered clay, The hairline fractures always stay—

A map that shows where it gave way, A reminder of that breaking day. So speak your words with weight and care, With truthfulness to clear the air. For every soul deserves the right To walk in unconstructed light, To build their world on solid ground, Where trust and honest love are found.

Yet from the dust, new strength is born, A resilience, weathered and worn. The broken places, once a source of pain, Become a testament to what can remain. The eyes, though they have learned to see the shade, Now recognize the truth that will not fade. The heart, though scarred, does not retreat, But learns a slower, deeper beat.

For in the clearing of the air, Grows a courage, potent and rare. To live a life not based on lore, But on the truth that lies at core. To offer kindness without a scheme, To build upon a honest dream. And in that building, find the way To greet a new, unshadowed day.

So let the shadow, long and deep, A solemn, waking vigil keep. Not as a chain, but as a guide, To walk with truth, arms open wide. For though the past can't be undone, A brighter future has begun— Not in forgetting, but in grace, That finds its home in truth's embrace.