THEY SCARED A CHILD

They scared a child
By predicting a war -
Charts of nuclear fallout zones
And pictures of Nagasaki.
But they did nothing
Other than buy more bombs.

They tried to frighten a teenager
With tales of falling dominoes -
Charts with geography scrambled
And pictures of Asian soldiers.
But they achieved nothing
Other than obscene devastation.

They tried to alarm a student
With the finiteness of resources -
Charts of empty oil wells
And pictures of Arab leaders.
But they prescribed nothing
And others found more reserves.

They tried to divert a young man
With cries of fiscal crises -
Charts of dubious intent
And pictures of doubtful content.
But they introduced nothing
And made us all pay for it.

They tried to convince a man
That dictators were to blame -
Charts of armies on blazing sands
And pictures of smart weapons’ strikes.
But they killed for nothing
And as a result nothing changed.

They tried to alert a tired man
That the earth was heating up -
Charts of ambiguous records
And pictures of ice melting.
But they did nothing except cast blame
And spent billions doing it.

They tried to terrify an old man
With the rise of extremist Islam -
Charts of terrorists' territorial gains
And pictures of grotesque atrocities.
Should I care if they do nothing again
When this time it might just work?