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| 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 | They say we must wait wait, son, wait on your turn education is the only key to success so study hard study hard, son, study hard study damned hard to fill the places of your leaders they tell us to work hard plant farms, son, plant farms they tell us many things they tell us what they tell us is too much they say we are free the freest country in the world they tell us we are democratic the most democratic nation in the world they say they had an election here tell us that tubman was returned they tell us we are rich for this rich son, you are rich they say all will be well and prosperous for another four years tubman will spend 1,000,000 a year on his health and that will make us the healthiest nation on earth they tell us we are progressing the returned president will continue the progress we are strong, they say the strongest country in the world they tell us the world looks at us the most looked at country in the world the tell us the world respects us the most respected nation on earth they tell us many things they tell us we are great the greatest nation on earth don't you feel your greatness? we are cultured the most cultured nation in the world the saddest people who are also the happiest people in the world they tell us jokes they say we must laugh sometimes we do not want to laugh some people laugh not loud, though some people cry everybody does something because there is nothing else to do so we listen to jokes we demand more rice but all we get is jokes, jokes only jokes are given us so we demand more jokes only jokes can soothe our hurt only jokes can ease our pain because it is only jokes that we can get we know only jokes jokes we have heard all our lives jokes we have had all our lives then someone tells us the truth we laugh at him because they say we must laugh at him now we are a laughing nation laughing and being laughed at because we have lived with many things we heard so much we have seen so much we have known so much too much not to laugh really too much not to laugh But one day Liberia will have to stop laughing Liberia will have to take account of its century-plus age It will not be funny then, no jokes the results will be startlingly frightening. |
Khasu, Kona. “Their Words – Deception.” The Seeds of Time: A Collection of Poems. Mimeographed typescript. Monrovia, 1971. 45–47.
| Line | Typescript | Changed to |
| [title] | Their words---Deception | Their Words – Deception |
| 14 | [after "us": double space] | [after "us": single space] |
| 17 | told us that tubman was returned | tell us that tubman was returned |
| 39 | the sadest people who are also the happiest people | the saddest people who are also the happiest people |
| 50 | but all we get is joke, jokes | but all we get is jokes, jokes |
| 53 | only jokes can sooth our hurt | only jokes can soothe our hurt |
| 55 | because it is only joke that we can get | because it is only jokes that we can get |
