SINCERITY

Full blown the sails of the ketch Sincerity
skims the waves with grace and ease
lending credence to the meaning of her name
a long, honorable history has she
with passengers of famous names;
a well known ageless sage of olden days
reminds us of wise words that hold true today,
sincerity and truth are the basis of every virtue
his solemn words state.

Conversely then
the enemy of truth and honesty is insincerity -
just how sincere, how trustworthy are we then
were you to measure your own sincerity
upon an emotional scale
reality may by far exceed your expectations
yes, you may be devastated to find yourself
living in a world of half truths,
of evasive, inconclusive responses
prefaced by self serving justifications
that cloud, obscure, obfuscate, block
the emergence of truthful, sincere, direct answers.

Perhaps the life style we live,
the pace, complexity and pressures
that daily drive us, brought us to this stage
Yet each of us can still make a correction,
just as the ketch Sincerity was completely refurbished,
so too can we readjust ourselves
for though we use our minds to obstruct and defray
we know in our hearts
that we are steering the wrong way.

Herbert Holzbauer
© March 2002

Midi: "I'll Stand By You"

Photo: "S/Y Sincerity"
Scandinavian Charter Yachts