Half-True

A world of unspoken lies

And half-truths

Half friends and half foes

Half family and half stranger

Half saint and half devil

A world of relative knowledge

A world of so and so and such and such

And silent secrets and hidden stories

A closet world kept locked away

From the light of day

A world where lives weigh in the balance

Of a bottle of beer

And a bureaucrat's smile

A world

Where a well placed bottle

Of vintage Chinese wine

Is of far greater value

Than grades or even

Perhaps, possibly

Life itself