Scott Simpson · Poetry

The Vetting Questions

Restoration Blues · source pages 5

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Source page 5

They said the questions weren’t about right or wrong—

just a Biblical basis for belief,

just a way to test the waters

without making waves.

But I knew the game—

how to say enough without saying too much,

dodge the hot buttons

the shallow landmines.

There was no map, only the learned sense

of where the traps lay hidden.

I gave them

answers safe and pious,

proof-texts strung like rosary beads,

faith measured in compliance.

They nodded, satisfied,

not knowing the weight of the mask

or how heavy the words lay

on my tongue.

It wasn’t a lie—

not quite.

But honesty can fracture under the strain

of saying what’s expected,

of wanting so desperately to belong.