If every word was stenographed,
Recorded for the world to see,
And every thought was taken down,
And each unvoiced soliloquy...

There would be only honest men;
The liar would be obsolete.
Conspiracy would be thrown out
With politics into the street.

No longer lost to memory,
Each new idea would be preserved.
The innocent would then be free
And punishment always deserved.

Yes, secrets could no more be kept,
But one small price that is to pay.
Surprise itself would be extinct,
But who would notice anyway?

No one would e'er anticipate.
There would be no uncertainty.
Small children would not, anxious, wait
For presents under Christmas tree.

Perhaps I should first think this through.
The words which I have said in haste
Forever would be written down,
Without forgiveness to erase.

I take it back. No stenograph!
My heart could never bear the cross
Of such a price as that to pay--
The good would not out-weigh the loss.

Copyright © 1997 by Randal A. Burd, Jr.

Publications: Scarborough, ME: The Candlelight Poetry Journal, Winter 1998

Author's Note: Poems viewed here are the latest versions and are not necessarily word-for-word as published.