A Modest Proposal

Strawman proposed a sensible rule
- obvious to all but the simplest fool.
No person should carry guns or knives,
and thereby he'd save a thousand lives.

Woodman pondered awhile and then
said should it apply to any white men?
The figures and facts indicated they
were less disposed to, anyway.

Tinman said, it was only right
- who'd heard of a crime by someone white?
A protest was raised, a solitary word,
an argument lost before it was heard.

Ironman added, the police should have guns,
and the right to shoot down some-one who runs.
This seemed, quite simply, a reasonable plan,
protecting us all from our fellow man.

Everyman smiled and nodded his head,
after all - he wouldn't be dead,
safe in his house, his bijou mews,
he counted the murders in the news.