Who goes first

Arid words
Spare tread of a bird
He rode barebutt over the potsherds
Eskimo glow. Physical plasticity and neuropathy
Psychical burn in the mouldering
city, exuding an aura of
scarred authenticity. Steam clouds
flowering from his ears, he accepts the
offer of coffee.

The other, gnarled tooth
& snake-wrapped rod
an illegitimate past as a demigod
He starred in a movie of his own past
composed the soundtrack

They debate the consciousness
of the right-minded citizens of their countries
mistrusting each other
and their shared echolalic vocabularies.
They agree to withdraw the robot guns
and cease all balloon infiltrations.
They shake hands, then talk. Small chaos
of a tree. The stinger missiles and
a billion ducks.

One: "I'm a little ashamed of what I do."
The other: "Me too. I used to be a chicken farmer.
Now I kill anyone who disagrees."