So much has changed     leaving its residue behind

did I ever really think that things would work out in the end

it isn't real meat     but a compound of meats
a number of animals pressed together like particle board

we say it when we want to debunk something
when we want to imply that it's not real     but false

there is no beast walking the earth whose flesh is baloney

so when did it all begin     this fact of the artificial

and was there a real world     prior to this one
in which baloney had no place     and can't be said to have existed

or have I only arrived at Plato's realm of shadows
by a circuitous route that includes     this time     baloney

and is there an abstract baloney     an ideal baloney
to which our compromised baloney refers

let us agree     baloney is an illusion     and yet it's real

we can't have it both ways     can we 

it is our own hand in the world that confounds things
though we ourselves are not an illusion

things do work out     though not in the way we planned

and illusion is a shore towards which we drift
abandoning the real     our little boats made of aluminum 

and plastic     breasting the dark     uncompromising waves