Boring People can be Right

Boring people can be right
although they drone on through the night
while you struggle to be polite
or simply to stay awake. Insight:
boring people can be right.

Righteous people can be wrong –
beware, they want you to belong,
to chant their clichéd marching song.
And they usually prevail, provided they’re strong.
Righteous people can be wrong.

Attractive people can be bad,
or brutes, as in the Iliad.
They smile at you: your heart goes mad –
how many times have you been had?
Attractive people can be bad.

Apparent angels can be snakes –
trusted friends prove utter fakes –
lovers turn out faithless rakes –
bright minds grow up as dull remakes
or worse, dangerous nutcakes –
well-meaning colleagues can make mistakes
and drop you in it –
                                 result: head/heartaches.

The problem is, how does one tell
if X represents heaven or hell?
Not only that – can you be sure
you’re not in a category you deplore?
You know yourself? That’s really cool!
Myself? Well, as a general rule
I’d say our fundamental flaw
is the faculty ourselves to fool –

but you’ll think me such a frightful bore . . .

Tom Vaughan

If you have any thoughts on this poem,  Tom Vaughan  would be pleased to hear them.