Pipe Dreams

Originally written: January, 2012

La Trahison des images (René Magritte, 1929)

This is not a pipe. 

Did you really think it so?

Certainly, it has the looks of a pipe,

the smells of a pipe,

even, perhaps, the taste of a pipe —

but, for all that it seems,

it simply is also that which it 

... is not. 

How do I know?

Do you really doubt me so?

By my life, it is true!

Do not trust your eyes,

they deceive you;

do not trust your nose,

it misleads you —

and the taste on your tongue

is only a trick 

of the mind. 

But, I guess, 

if you must,

go see for yourself;

you will know it to be true. 

For the sights to be seen,

and the sounds to be heard,

are only shadows of things

that truly

are.