A Rather Important Hypothetical (Asking for a Friend) 

By Martina Preston

 

If, perhaps, a group of fellows

All woke up as stale marshmallows,

Do you think they’d try, like men,

To find the fellows they’d once been? 

Or would they grow accustomed to

This new and boring life of goo,

And in their minds resolve themselves

To long, bleak lives upon the shelves?

 

They might, in fear, submissive lie

Wondering who’s next to die?

Lack of limbs lends no solutions

But one: a mellow revolution.

The trouble is, our fellows see,

That only periodically—

On the coldest days or warmest nights—

Do they emerge from out of sight

To swim in chocolate swirls warm

Or roast and slowly lose their form.

 

Despite this fact, their spirit’s not lost,

And though the treat is cheap in cost,

In wit and words, they seem to be

Still as advanced as you and me.

Society can rise once more

In these poor fellows’ state; I’m sure.

For with their minds, they can bestow

A governmental type of show

On workings of a candy’s kind

To exercise their human minds. 

 

The weeks go by, and months, and years

And some marsh-fellows cry sweet tears

Remembering their human past,

But bravely, still, a few hold fast.

A culture is reborn through those

Who dares to speak out from the rows

Of fluffy ‘mallows. Once were men

(Their minds were as they’d always been).

 

So, soon, a city will be built

From crumbs and trash the humans spilled–

Jobs and trading regulated

Entertainment duly rated.

Government elections held,

And sugary pollution smelled.

And life goes on as once before,

As fellow-ship is here reborn.