<center>http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/13/HeartonPage778e6.gif</center>

Now the playgrounds are eerily quiet
though on the breeze you can hear them still,
the noises that the children make
with sticks and stones and thrown words.
The sounds remind me now
How they all promised
there were no words 
to hurt me. 

<center>http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/13/newspaperfaceeb813.gif</center>
And now my soul is eerily quiet
though in my eyes you can see it still
The scars that stretch across my skin
shaped in weaponized letters
stronger than any stone,
stronger still in flight,
and how they hurt
when they land.

<center>http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/13/unmaskbf569.gif</center>

I would trade all I know for sticks and stones
had I known that they were lying then,
that their sharp words were meant to dull.
Ideas are stronger than bombs
and I had been disarmed.
When they promise peace
they sharpen sticks
and throw stones.

<center>http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/13/2005d610.gif</center>

Sticks and stones may break your bones
But words can kill your longing.

_____
_____
#### Thank you for spending time here.  Gifs sourced from GIPHY.com

|Other Works|
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|[Tandem](https://steemit.com/poetry/@prufarchy/tandem-original)
|[The Last Revolution](https://steemit.com/poetry/@prufarchy/the-last-revolution-original)
|[The Realist](https://steemit.com/story/@prufarchy/the-realist-original)
|[In The Rough](https://steemit.com/story/@prufarchy/in-the-rough-original)
|[Burning in](https://steemit.com/story/@prufarchy/burning-in-original)
|[Entangled As We Are](https://steemit.com/story/@prufarchy/entangled-as-we-are-original)
|[Puerto Rico & Gunhill Rd.](https://steemit.com/story/@prufarchy/puerto-rico-and-gun-hill-rd-original)
|[The Native, the Slave and the Conqueror](https://steemit.com/story/@prufarchy/the-native-the-slave-and-the-conqueror-original)
|[Artificial Vibe](https://steemit.com/poetry/@prufarchy/artificial-vibe-original)


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