A deeper investigation into the text of the poem can explain a few of Metres choice of words and phrases. The poem is full of references. Metres noted that “When I was a child I Lived as a child, I Said to My Dad is for Dad and Mom. It references a post-Gulf War video game, The Mother of All Tank Battles.” (Metres 103) The tittle of the poem itself references a line from the bible “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” (Corinthians 13:11) The purpose of the title is to point out how the game became obsolete for Jonah after he became an adult. Although “The Mother of All Tank Battles” is not an actual game, there is a game named
