the untold tale

the bearded prophets on the wall are dead but still can speak to us
in words whose meanings we endlessly debate
whose power changes as we change our lives
but not as fast as the implacable seasons

they were men we know that and did the same things that we
do today and for the same reasons but we never think of that
we do not ask what they thought as they brushed their teeth
or sat in the privy or why one loved cats and another dogs

nor what their wives or daughters really thought when they had
to cook or do the laundry or figure out how the bills would be paid
while their men spent the days creating wisdom declaring the truths
that all should live by that we all should understand

history is really a matter of footnotes off the supporting
evidence and the evidence of support and we whoever we are
should always remember that the story we see
is never the whole story