THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD

The pen is mightier than the sword
Is insight of doubtful value
To teenage girls in love
And skydivers whose chutes don’t open,

Or poor Robert on the kitchen floor
With blood spilled
And body torn beyond repair
Or Martin L. K. after his eyes rolled back,

Or the guy against the wall
Facing the firing squad
Or his mother collecting the body
After the smoke clears.

But on Saturdays in summer
With twenty-five dollars in yen
It will get you a cantaloupe in Nagasaki.