I’m a sifter of a memorable shape,
You can eat a variety of me, but I can be toxic,
I can cause severe pain if you’re not careful,
And the action I describe could hurt as well.
Kidneys filter your blood and are shaped like kidney beans, which you can eat. Red kidney beans contains high amounts of phytohemagglutinin (quite the word, eh?) and can be toxic if not soaked and boiled. Kidney stones can be extremely painful and if a kid knees you in the stones, that would also be unpleasant.
Kings and lords and christians raised them
Since they stand for higher powers
Yet few of them would stand, I’m certain,
If women ruled this world of ours.
A married couple is traveling by bus on dangerous mountain roads. Midway through their journey the bus stops for snacks and a restroom break. The couple is enjoying the postcards in the store when the bus driver curtly tells them it’s past time to leave. Fifteen minutes after, the bus is hit by a mud slide and two people are killed. The couple blames themselves for the deaths. Why?
They blame themselves because they caused the bus to be late. If they had been on time, the bus would have already passed the location of the mud slide.