Sticks and Stones

Was it the spicy cuisine,
or was it too much caffeine,
that shattered the serene, poetry scene
at the Sunshine Coffee House?

Detectives say the verbal carnage began
with an argument that spilled out of the café
into the parking lot where it escalated
from threats, insults and innuendos
to four letter words and abusive language.

Potent adjectives and adverbs were added
to nouns and verbs to increase fire power
causing words to ricochet off the pavement
and leave graffiti marks on the walls,
bruising egos and shattering self esteem.

What began as a placid poetry reading
turned into a boisterous slam.
Police were called and a swat team
stormed the coffee house where
they found some poets in possession
of toxic verse and explosive prose.

The bomb squad along with a hazmat team
were dispatched to the site to clean up
the spent casings of commas, colons
and other punctuations that littered the area.
Three ticking exclamation points
were disarmed in the parking lot.

Defendants were charged with poor oratory
skills and copyright infringement.
All pleaded not guilty and no bail was set.
The judge knew no one makes any money
reciting poetry.