An attempt to console myself about the nuclear arms treaty lapsing yesterday, but failed catastrophically to make myself feel better.

I had a version that was produced more energetically, but that felt wrong to enjoy this too much.

Only fun thing I'll offer is this alternative verse about the founding fathers I didn't use.

Oppenheimer quoted the Bhagavad Gita. Fermi dropped confetti to see how far it went. Truman didn't know about it until he was the president. And Parsons did Sex Magick in a tent.

There’s a ball of plasma a mile wide Everything was matter, now it's physics and light Fifty million degrees, three times the center of the sun Roughly give or take a megaton

The McDonald’s down in Shockoe catches fire The concrete doesn't crumble it sublimates A mailbox turns to gas before the mail can burn And crosswalk signal asks for you to wait

It sees you when you see it And the neighbor you never liked And the neighbor you thought was hot And the dog that barked all night If it’s any consolation, it’s beautiful and bright So I guess it’s gonna be alright

The glass in the rubble looked like art Like sixty dollars plus shipping and a bag All it took was a giant kiln the size of our downtown And no customer base left to brag

The fallout looks like snow if snow was angry Landing on the corn, the cattle, the creek Cesium has a half-life of thirty five years So the government measures things, but will not speak

It sees you when you see it And the boy waving at cars And the woman watching birds And the baby asleep in her mother’s arms If it’s any consolation, it’s beautiful and warm

No one left to grieve No one left to anything No one left to see what we drew on cave walls before we could speak

The weeds come first and then the flowers And then the trees and then the vines And in a hundred some odd years the only sign That we were here Is a lonely satellite keeping the time