Born under flags into existing places,

what to eat and when to tell a story,

where to laugh and which codex is holy

come naturally like solids and spaces.

They sate the human appetite for tags:

this one has clever towns and elections;

this one keeps all their women in cloth bags;

this one bears snow for most of its seasons.

Though flesh is what they conspicuously lack.

Organs and glands cannot constitute a plan

concerning fleets, situations and fact.

Somewhere, lines are being drawn upon a plain.

A gun is being loaded by a man

who loves his wife and who is not to blame.