A gentleman of the press

asked the esteemed weapons designer

how he slept at night.

Mr. Kalashnikov said on the whole

he'd rather he'd designed a lawn mower,

to really do things right,

but he slept very well, thank you,

because he never made a cent

on the rifle that seems a blight.

God bless you, Mr. Kalashnikov,

you served your country well,

and every other country in sight.

And God Bless Mr. Lee, and Mr. Winchester,

and every designer and manufacturer

of every long tube with a trigger and sight,

for we can only imagine what we

would have done without you

to give that extra oomph to every fight.