Written for Reena’s Xploration Challenge.
Our focus is on ‘fiction’ as Reena asks:
What constitutes fiction in the post-
truth era? How thin or distinct are
the lines between fact and fiction?
So this influencer swears the earth is flat ….
her source? A guy who “used to work at NASA.”
She’s not lying …. she’s “asking questions,” and that
is legally distinct from being a liar.
Meanwhile my group chat forwards a screenshot
of a tweet from an account that isn’t real,
quoting a senator who never said that thing,
but hey, it feels true, and feelings are the deal.
The credits say “this is a work of fiction,”
right after sixty minutes of “True Crime.”
And AI says “I might be wrong, my friend,”
then makes up a guy’s name, age, and birth sign .
So what’s fiction now? Not the thing that’s fake;
it’s the thing polite enough to admit the con.
Everything else just skips that step and says
“trust me” …. and somehow we all keep going on.
NAR©2026
This is “Gimme Some Truth” by John Lennon
Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.
The Elephant's Trunk 