Repeated lines are from Cordelia in King Lear by William Shakespeare Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides. Ask Richard Nixon, “Who erased the tape?” Who cover faults, at last shame them derides. They’re often drowned by elemental tides while telling lies to make a clean escape. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides. Bill Clinton, too, found out how fate collides with claims of innocence, how life reshapes uncovered faults; at last shame them derides. And Spiro Agnew learned when too much pride makes men conceal their fraud behind a drape that time unfolds what careful scheming hides. Who’s actions with his public face collides: corruption, bribery, and even rape— those covert faults—at last shame him derides. Do not expect that goodness overrides and gets you out of self-made wicked scrapes. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides: who cover faults, at last shame them derides.
Wilda Morris, Workshop Chair of Poets and Patrons of Chicago and a past President of the Illinois State Poetry Society, has published numerous poems in anthologies, webzines, and print publications. She has published two books of poetry, Szechwan Shrimp and Fortune Cookies: Poems from a Chinese Restaurant (RWG Press) and Pequod Poems: Gamming with Moby-Dick (Kelsay Books). Her current projects are a book of poems riffing off science facts and theories, and a collection of poems playing with Shakespeare’s words. Wilda’s grandchildren say she lives in a library. Her poetry blog at wildamorris.blogspot.com features a monthly poetry contest.