Lithobolia

A lot of stories used to start
With "once" or "once upon a time,"
But now we're not so confident.

A lot of stories still begin
By assuming we'll surrender
Common sense, facts, experience,

The knowledge death's a certainty,
To indulge in certain nonsense,
Fairies, monsters, mythology.

We excuse this by claiming truth
Of a metaphorical sort
Exists within our fantasies,

Although we can never explain
Why we would need to recode truth
As libraries of balderdash.

A lot of stories never start
Because we already know them.
Let me, who is without sin, cast

The first stone.