A Lesson for Children

Too close to me and you,
lived some people in a commune,
they liked a crazy man,
who wrote out his plan,
about the future,
he was sure,
thought he knew,
what we'd go through,
to end the war,
between haves and have-nots,
to have peace once more,
but peace can't be bought,
by faulty economic schemes,
or high-falutin' dreams,
of an imaginary world,
so before our story's told,
know sweet children,
however frilled the house you live in,
or pitiable your pit,
we all have some things,
and have-not some things,
the categories in this story,
have and have-not,
are imaginary,
it's fine to imagine alot,
but don't ignore reality,
for airy imaginings.

In the commune,
people were farmers,
harvest came soon,
later followed by winter,
season by season,
the workdays went unseasoned,
no celebrations,
split holiday and workday,
every hour "brothers" worked hard,
planting flour across acres,
yard by yard.
Once a month,
the commune met,
to make some rules,
to prepare and set,
any changes:
in who got what tools,
what would be bought from outside,
apportionments of gruel,
and John Lame Mule (full of pride),
considered it cruel,
he was on Elder's bad side,
so he got the least gruel.

At one of the monthly meetings,
John LM made a speech,
he said they had have-nots,
but brotherhood waited in reach,
some men had wives and daughters,
but some brethren were lonely bachelors,
so John LM proposed,
smiling 'round his hooked nose,
the married brothers share,
their wives or daughters fair,
with single brothers who found,
them fine in or out of gowns,
"if they need bound",
John LM said,
"bop them upside the head,
then every brother is wed,
with every sister here,
and our Karl's wise utopia,
draws more near"
some married men opposed
what John LM proposed
but the majority's prose,
above contention rose,
so in the town hall,
women large and daughters small,
were had by all,
bachelors who with haste,
wanted a taste,
of sharing a marital bed.
Some women left the commune,
some of them left notes,
others left with ropes,
the Elder's wife was shared most,
for a while she was comatose,
then rejecting the noose,
she cooked her own goose,
with a dose,
of mandrake.

All sisters were shared,
but some were like a favorite toy,
passed from boy to boy,
while others were like toys forgotten,
left in wooden boxes rotten,
these nagging old hens,
soon made friends,
sitting in a knitting circle,
they clucked of how a cull,
of the most-lended sisters,
may befit kind Karl's order,
Old Bess McGrueder,
suggested the ladies should,
offer The Others lumber(wood),
for liposuction machines,
their tubes of plastic sheen,
would let the ladies siphon,
the fat "those sirens",
packed in too-slim bras,
many ladies cawed,
"...just asking to be shared
dressing so flirty"
and if they were thin,
they'd be less dirty,
then the means of production,
for feminine seduction,
could be pumped in pairs,
of ladies wanting shared,
where women breathed,
and where women sat,
they'd redistribute fat,
between sips of tea,
ladies talked equality.
Old Ms.Sheeat,
stroking her pussy cat,
said they could not glean,
funds for a machine,
but trust her because she,
had a simpler people's solution,
the spinster's fair resolution,
of feminist equality,
would be applied to bodies,
by nails, fists, knives, and tools,
with these instruments they'd school,
man-hoarding sisters,
in how ladies must pool,
their resources together,
to survive the foul weather,
of the male gaze,
through a judgmental haze,
of machismo's appraisal,
the same-looking feminine,
would sail common to commune women.
That night the least shared women,
tore down the means of production,
of feminine seduction,
from the most shared women,
making the latter's faces,
match the former's feminine graces,
until one sister was as good as another,
and had no favor from a brother.
The little daughter of the Elder,
survived that night a cripple,
but she had not bled.

The Elder heard the people,
when they were his people,
and now the people's revolution,
had passed his resolve,
he found he could not solve,
this world of relative shapes,
he longed for a single equal form,
an end to uneven landscapes,
an end to the rich robbing the poor,
to become wealthier all the more,
he longed for a world without worlds,
thoughts without words,
existence without substance,
distinction without variation,
he asked on and on,
what should be his action?
No more a monthly meeting,
nor brother's kind greeting,
he couldn't consult the commune,
with pacing feet,
he asked the empty air,
until he heard an answer,
(something else was there)
in his quiet house.
This widow heard their voices,
The Elder joined their chorus,
an unseen sounding,
a larger commune's founding,
for the first time,
in a long time,
The Elder's ears chimed,
with long missed sounds,
his wife's teeth and tongue,
through his head did resound,
she and most of the brethren,
missed their flesh,
the clucking hens,
and deflated bachelors,
were doors,
the means of production of life,
and The Elder heard what waited in store,
quite, cold for everyone,
loneliness for evermore,
he heard their demands,
and soberly came to understand,
the brethren had amassed,
and told him their wishes at last:
to be fair,
bros must share,
with the majority of brethren passed.
They commanded the Elder,
to gather the people's paybox,
and take it to The Others,
to buy enough mandrake,
to give the Watersnake Well,
the toxin it'd take,
to poison its' fangs.
The Elder looked strange,
to The Others,
but they gave him his supplies,
done making his buys,
he returned to the people,
neighbors asked where he would go,
when he walked by,
didn't they know?
the commune had a meeting,
so now he must try,
to equate the distribution of the means of production of life,
between the people with bodies,
and the voices without,
he did not doubt,
The Elder was sure,
he did the people more good,
than ever before.
He called the commune to gather,
some asked, "what's the matter",
folks stepped aside for his daughter,
she hobbled up front,
compared to most sisters,
she was a runt,
"To equality comrades!
Let's lift the people's cup
and together sup."
So the whole commune drank,
and their numbers shrank,
in a day,
from many,
to none.

One of The Others
took the land of the brothers
and demolished their buildings
for his new mall's opening.