Hollow Men with Heavy Hatchets

"To the man with a hammer, everything is a nail" often attributed to Abraham Kaplan.

"The English expression "a Birmingham screwdriver," meaning a hammer, refers to the practice of using the one tool for all purposes, and predates Kaplan by at least a century.

In 1868, a London periodical, Once a Week, contained this observation: 'Give a boy a hammer and chisel; show him how to use them; at once he begins to hack the doorposts, to take off the corners of shutter and window frames, until you teach him a better use for them, and how to keep his activity within bounds.' (wiki)

Hollow men with heavy hatchets

swing away, chop away, hack away

They pound with the power of judgement

and it must feel so cleansing to cut out the carnage of sin

That's what hatches do

They break, and maim, and remove

leaving chips, scars, jagged edges, and uneven stumps.

A heavy hatchet is easy and makes the work quite quick.

And if no cleanup is required, it is even entertaining at times.

Though nurses have to close up after the precision of the surgeon's scalpel,

A hatchet man just swings and walks away.

The best hatchet men block out the noise

and take no note of the wails of pain.

The glory is in the power to cut.

A weaker mortal may cringe at such a moment,

but not a hollow hatchet man,

His courage is in this blade.

Hollow men with heavy hatchets are always dead right

And they clean up so well.

They speak with the sobriety of sages,

But cut with the drunkenness of fools.

The hollow man with a heavy hatchet sleeps well at night,

As long as his back was strong and his blows were hard.

Hollow men with heavy hatchets band together

A fraternity with a common lust for blood.

And they dream of more efficient power,

A guillotine perhaps for the masses?

"When heads roll

Men are reined in vicariously

And the whisper campaigns never rise to revolution."

Hollow men with heavy hatchets, swing away

They do their job so well.

And there is always eternal need

to swing that hard in hell.

I made this into a song: You can hear it here:

Hollow Men with Heavy Hatchets

Hollow men with heavy hatchets,
Swingin’ down with pride, no matches.
Cutting deep and feeling bold,
Leaving scars in rough-hewn folds.

(Pre-Chorus)
They don’t heal; they slice and go,
Quick and clean, just so you know.
A surgeon’s hand is slow and kind,
But a hatchet man don’t look behind.

(Chorus)
Hollow men with heavy hatchets,
Blind to cries, they strike and catch it.
They sleep sound, while fools applaud,
Swingin’ hard and playin’ God.
Hollow hearts with heavy hands,
Layin’ waste to every land.

(Verse 2)
Dressed in wisdom, talkin’ slow,
While craving that wild hammer’s blow.
Brothers march with hardened hearts,
Tearin’ everything apart.

(Chorus)
Hollow men with heavy hatchets,
Blind to cries, they strike and catch it.
They sleep sound, while fools applaud,
Swingin’ hard and playin’ God.
Hollow hearts with heavy hands,
Layin’ waste to every land.

(Bridge)
And they dream of sharper tools,
A guillotine to quiet fools.
Holdin’ down the voices near,
To keep revolt from growin’ here.

(Verse 3)
Oh, hollow men with faces bright,
Dressin’ up their hearts in spite.
But in the end, it’s swingin’ hell,
Where heavy hatchets fit so well.

(Chorus)
Hollow men with heavy hatchets,
Blind to cries, they strike and catch it.
They sleep sound, while fools applaud,
Swingin’ hard and playin’ God.
Hollow hearts with heavy hands,
Layin’ waste to every land.

(Outro)
Hollow men, swing on down,
Plenty of work in the fires found.
Hatchets heavy, souls gone cold—
Hollow men left in the fold.