Real people are killed
When people are real
They can be killed
They are not people
And cannot to be killed
But if they are killed
Their artery sliced
By a white hot
Metal shard flying
Their femur crushed
By something whistling oddly
Too swiftly through the air
If they fall and bleed
When they receive a bullet
Between two ribs
Then they are people
Pleasant or unpleasant
Curious or dull
Friendly or grouchy
Not figures sketched by words
Cut out propped up and
Put on a carousel spinning
In the mind
Forms that may flash
Into crackling flames
Ephemeral things
Of no consequence
Curiosities
High quantity non-events
If they stumble
Hurrying down the road
Away from their home
And misunderstand
A loudspeaker command
And stop 8 seconds too late
And take a baton to the brain
And stop moving
If they leave bread in the oven
Because of a dread feeling
In the seventh house
Where they have slept
In 17 days
And trundle down the road
Pushing a stroller
With a jewelry box
Velvet pillows
And a toddler on top
And they become
Hungry and very thirsty
And they learn that
Their destination is also
Receiving missiles
Then they are people
Real people
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