Lance Armstrong fell. Now Elon Musk
proclaims his vain stupidity.
Ambitious heroes tell us lies.
Naive I barely understand.

At 9 I told a lie to friends
of hula hoop ability.
They stared, denial in their eyes,
but didn’t kick my house of sand.

I learned that day a lie makes murk,
and tracking takes up energy.
No win by falsehood satisfies,
for self-esteem is self-command.

A hero, sung or mute, will be
a character of high surprise.