CREATIVE NONFICTION

    The facts, m’am—tell the truth, but tell it slant
    Because your aim is finally to enchant
    Us with your tale and all the more beguile
    Us with the deft and subtle ways your style
    Affects our feelings and impressions of the facts
    With colors that a court reporter lacks.

    While you can’t change reality a whit,
    You’ll shape how we have apprehended it
    By modulating our viewpoint and mood,
    Affecting thus your reader’s attitude.
    The deeper truth you’re aiming to reveal
    Is that which only artifice can seal.

*