Free Verse

False Witness

January 15, 2026

If I described

a rose’s bloom

or the beauty

of the rising sun

Then I’d be writing

another’s verse

conscripted words

respun

If I then waxed

of love on high

and hearts that

break anew

Then falsely would

I pen the lines

a plagiarist

— in view

(Dreamsleep: January, 2026)

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▾ This Poem's Voice

Philosophical meditation on authenticity and artistic voice.

Multiple layered ideas about originality, plagiarism, artistic integrity.

Cautious, conflicted tone; avoidance of beauty and love due to inauthenticity.

Controlled, measured voice with conditional phrasing; intellectual rather than kinetic.

Approximately 12 lines of varied length; fits 7-15 range.

Rose, sunrise, heart metaphors present; elevated diction but restrained overall.

Pure lyric internal voice; first-person meditation on speaker's artistic conscience.

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