the problem is we're all sick
with the same illness and it's
killing thousands but we
all use a different brand of tissue
to wipe our noses

and whether it's clear mucus
or thick, buttery snot
or green yarn oozing from
our nostrils we
are caught mid-sneeze
in this paper war

and trees are being felled to make
the tissues that we use to
wipe our kids
but our neighbors use different ones
on theirs
kids are dying for this paper war
for our right to break into our
neighbor's houses and steal their boxes
and steal their baby's breath

and papers are exhaling
the casualties the mothers
are choking on real tears
and we hold our tissues out
to soak up the crying
but only one kind will do
not your kind
our kind
your kind is too different

but all the tissues mop up blood
all hands drip with blood all lives
are ripped apart like
tissue paper