What a terrible racket they made

beating all those swords into plowshares

people were deafened worldwide    letters

of protest    as well as serious essays

pointing out in the sensible way

of ordinary people    we no longer

use plowshares    swords have been

for generations the playthings

of boys and men

now the government that year happened

to be a poet    it explained

in a kindly way    citizens we had

in mind a living performing metaphor

using familiar religious themes and

literary memories    of course once we

get those useless plowshares there

may be a couple of economic or

industrial uses    we will even be able

to beat them back into swords should swords

still be required by boys and men