Sticks and stones
May break my bones
But why stop there?
Grind the stones
To pebbles
Put them in a crucible
Apply heat liberally
Reduce to liquid
Skim off the dross
Cool the metal
Stamp it with a die
Inscribed with the image
Of dead men and birds
And round off the edges
For the sticks
These, too
Must be reduced
To pulp
Soaked in water
Pressed flat and dried
Printed with more images of
(You guessed it)
Dead men and birds
Then cut the finished product
Into rectangles
Declare the value
Of your metal
Of your paper
And feed it to
The military-industrial complex
For your trouble
(If you’re lucky)
You’ll get a wagon full
Of Intercontinental Ballistic Sticks
Capped with Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Stones
To efficiently reduce
Whole cities full of bones
To their component molecules
Next week
We can discuss
How words
(Through a campaign
Of targeted misinformation)
Can hurt you
