They fill the heads of children
with bullets and other lies.
They teach teenagers to kill for life
to scream profanities at pacifists
and lust for blood
blood flowing in the gutter
like acid rain burning the streets
cold hearts churning in fiery hells
screaming for violence, vengeance
murder, mass murder
shooting people in the head
like they were empty tin cans
waiting for hot steel
to scream through their skin.
Stop it, stop it
don’t pick up their guns
don’t jump into their war machine
or you’ll be consumed alive
like a gasoline scarecrow
writhing in flames.
Please
look into their eyes
see the children in their eyes
see the crimson blood
screaming down the cold dead skin
of children’s shattered bodies
like a million tears.
If you think you’re saving lives
look at the blood on your hands
streaming down your arms
like crimson tears
cried by your own slit wrists.
Please
put down your guns
and whisper the word
“peace.”
There is no raging fire
or exploding bomb loud enough
to silence the only word
that can save us all.