A Covenant with Life and with Death

A Portuguese Man O’ War sails by

Its name originating from a ship of war

Both have sails, both sturdy structures

Both deadly

The colonial Man ‘O War is anchored

By its tentacles sometimes reaching

Between 30 and 100 feet below the watery 

Surface while its small sail moves along with

Ocean currents and winds

Each Man O’ War’s colonies come from the same egg

Zooids have different jobs underneath the

Surface of water, some hunting, some 

Digesting, some reproducing

Like humans, sea creatures live their lives

Evolving, developing ways

To eat, digest, move, and have babies

So the species will survive

Old warships certainly had purposes

Functions, did their jobs, protecting by

Shooting canons, battling the enemy, but

Like musket loading, canons take time and energy

A bit cumbersome, taking time to

Effectively effect their power

Too bad assault style weapons

Don't kill slowly like muskets 

Rather, rapid fire mass of bullets 

Tear through living bodies

Assault weapons mow down children

As fast as a rainfall, or a flash flood

We create these weapons

Perhaps once meant to protect a country 

That offers food, shelter, safety and

The pursuit of happiness

Too bad a single individual (for whatever reason)

Can kill massive amounts of children

With hardly a moment of intervention

Obstacle or barrier

Murdering children like the drop of a hat

A Covenant, a contract made between

At least two

What kind of Covenant 

Does an assault weapon create?

With whom?

We are all complicit

Knowingly or not

We are still agreeing to 

This covenant

Even now