Lies Flourish Thanks to the Truth

It’s a tough rule of life in a deceptive species—
More often than not, but not always,
Retrospect will show that you ought

To have been more scared of the source
Of the warning than of the calamity
The source so generously warned you about.

The capuchin who gives the alarm
That sends the rest of the group scrambling
Quickly scoops up all the fruit it can.

The corvid who starts the mobbing
Of the apparently threatening raptor
Peels off to raid another corvid’s stash.

The human fraudster says a fraudster
Or the government itself is coming for you,
Which gets you to hand over your data and cash.

And what can poor little suckered you,
Deceptive ape to your own core, do?
Not much. Too many actual threats. Too true.