February 12, 2013

David Evans - The Drones of Empire (A Poem)

The Drones of Empire
By David Evans

As the drones of empire circle the earth
Witness we hell fire queen's grim plan
To give fear and loathing a new birth
From Hoboken River to North Waziristan.
Alas the vanguard of death have found their mark
Unleashing their digital death orders,
From break of dawn to fall of dark
Across angry ancient borders.

The Angel of Death has had a field day
Caressing the burning circuits of doom
Where taunting electrons laugh and play
And the virgins of armageddon quietly loom.
Launching virtual war against faces nameless
Stalking them with surgical care
Rendering death dealing neat and painless
With little heart to spare.

Yet the world seemingly obliges
Distracted by latest info derangement
Donning the fabled ring of Gyges
Trapped in their silent torment.
For where is the outrage
At babies torn asunder
As the angels pray
And the Empire plunders.

On Marathon's plains great armies vied
As Greeks and Persians joined in battle
Fierce they faught, bravely they died
Falling to slaughter like herds of cattle.
And though the outcome was ever precarious
The Greeks did finally win the day
Defeating the armies of mighty Darius
While the gales of war did so many flay.

At Agincourt one St Crispan's day
One hundred years of brutal war
Did to the high Angels display
Mankind bedecked in splendid robes of gore.
Though the combatants faught hand to hand
With longbow did the English finally vanquish
Charles' true and steadfast band
Punctuating the martyrd twins anguish.

Sword to sword the generations drew blood
As medals proudly hung and great armies clashed
Leaving bootless corpses freezing in the mud
As the Generals schemed and all hope was dashed.
At Antietem Creek in Sixty-Two
Tens of thousands entombed in late summer clay
As the God's of War did verily hew
The terrified boy heroes of that fateful day.

At Stalingrad two great armies faught
At close quarters did they struggle to the last
Snow fell heavy and many were lost
Seized by icy tendrils of vicious Volga blood bath.
Civilians cut down like so many blades of grass
Stunning the Red Army high command
As the Wermacht flanks collapsed
And men dropped like hour glass sand.

War once engaged with sword and saddle
Swathed in holy rivultes of blood
Where virtues tanks came to battle
Crushing each other in the heavy mud.
Followed by weapon's of doomsday too terrible to ponder
Heralding the total destruction of all mankind
Enter some smug boy wonder
To one more devil tail find.

Hush the wails of collateral damage
That riddle our souls with guilt and fear.
Where says the ancient adage
'The gales of destruction will the storm clear.'
The reapers of death now with precision persue
'Al Qaeda' lurking in multiple data streams
Until one day they come for you
Shattering all your dreams.

Go ahead, play your games of hide and seek
Your daily habits will one day betray you
For aren't you just like all the other sheep
That they will with all vengence sue
For all that you hold dear,
The freedom that you love
Smashed in the rubble of your fear
Opening the gates of heaven above.

For what is the apocalypse after all
But the end of our precious freedom
Fulfilling the dream of our mystical fall
From Angel in waiting to Imperial demon.
And as the death drones circle the earth
In each heart extingushed by hellfire
We see the signs of a precious new birth
In the Empire's smoking funeral pyre!