Rust This Rapier

You polished it, the wit, to wit
You slid it again and again along every sharpening stone (criticism, disdain, judgement, unkind remarks)
Virtually anything that could penetrate the marshmallow heart and poison the hot blood
Could serve to make the born-blunt edge thinner, the better to slice you with

You sat at the feet of the greats
The funny arrows of truth, deftly nocked and swiftly released, reloaded
Memorizing the melodies of cleverness, a template for
First rehearsed replies, afterthoughts forged by repetition into a more and more accurate weapon,
Then hardened into a versatile, agile original design, slashing deep at a moment's notice

Always believing this was a method for seizing power,
a coup against the lack of various stripes of privilege.
And sometimes it is. A needed defense.

Not often, but still too much, it's an unattended razor, wounding wantonly
Cutting the unwitting, family, friends, slicing and dicing ones you love,
leaving you with bleeding pieces.

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"You find yourself amusing, Blackadder." 
"I try not to fly in the face of public opinion."
- Richard Curtis and Ben Elton