Gray tornadoes mate on the desolate plane
where demons mass for an ambush,
spawning chaos whose winds our potions block.
Night of terror and destruction. Purity
and power in the hall where freaks
and zombies of a dying world contaminate
the air we breathe. Wastes of skin in our
scanners. We are the birth of a new order
with nothing to gain because we are nothing,
just ones and zeros and the skill
to decipher the master plan. Deceit
is a ploy, baby face a diversion.
Seek and destroy and in the final hour
go down in an inferno whose god ordains
survival of the best. Death is the opiate.
Power is meaningless without meaning.
The enemy is faceless but it could be us.
(c)copyright 2012 Charles David Miller. All rights reserved.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Cybernetic Warrior
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Power is meaningless without meaning.
ReplyDeleteThe enemy is faceless but it could be us... wow...this left me just speechless.. you always pack such a lot of deep thoughts into your poems charles...think i need to re-read to dive into the next level of your thoughts..
I like it that the words inspire your reaction. I do try to invite readers to look deeper. That I wasvable to accomplish that here gratifies me. Thank you.
DeleteGreat imagery, powerful symbolism!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't resist publishing this for the prompt. I started out writing jagged images that way, which converged on some quirky strange angle that often defied meaning. Thank you for letting me know that I was able to accomplish that here.
DeleteCHARLES!!! Those final two lines...WOW! Love the dark language, the images, and the finish is a knife straight through the heart of the martian. WRITE ON!
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ReplyDeleteoh... eerie! ... it could be us.
ReplyDeleteThis was amazing! absolutely love it!
~L
www.untitledmoments.com
some really good stuff even between the lines...i was in Modern Warfare there for a bit slaying zombie nazis....smiles...but in many ways death is the opiate...sadly we are feeding it to our young...spent some time today with a 6 year old who is fascinated with killing...that is all he will play...everything...scary...
ReplyDeleteThank you B, I wrote this in response to Columbine, when people were saying the killers were perhaps influenced by video games. I had some dreams about this and incorporated the images into the poem.
DeleteThe last lines are supposed to be by the killers, though someone has suugested they are "my" words. My youngest son has played WOW for a while, and I worried about him, but he seemsbto have it under control now.
Though the images are from video games, they're ca. Doom and Wolfenstein. I can't play them, since the motion messes with my inner ear and I get sick. Blair Witch had the same effect on me! :)
I love this whole section, especially the baby face diversion and death opiate:
ReplyDelete"Deceit
is a ploy, baby face a diversion.
Seek and destroy and in the final hour
go down in an inferno whose god ordains
survival of the best. Death is the opiate.
Power is meaningless without meaning.
The enemy is faceless but it could be us."
I'm with rosemarymint... that was my favorite part... excellent piece.
ReplyDeleteOh, man! Tight write with killer closing lines!
ReplyDeleteOut of the Martian school, you bring forth the War of the Worlds! That is definitely taking things to their logical, and extreme, conclusion.
ReplyDeleteWhat's that old saying? I have seen the enemy and he is us ... or something along those lines ... good poem, very powerful
ReplyDelete@ S.E. - mmm that's from Pogo - my husband quoted it often. However it was "he are us".
ReplyDeleteI thought this was deeper than it seemed on first read too. It doesn't have to be Martian to scare us. Deep in our DNA we are made to fear that which isn't very close to who we are, what we look like, our own tribe. We are not much past that. Well done.
My favorite part is where we are the ones and zeros--the ability to decipher the master plan. Shades of HAL. K.
ReplyDelete"with nothing to gain because we are nothing,"
ReplyDeleteI love that line. Amazing piece!
Another extremely effective poem, Charles--much closer to the Martian concept, too--all very alien feeling, the vibe of the unknowable. And I am a big gamer, but can't play those first person shooter games either because of motion sickness--gaming is like anything else, moderation and perspective or its substance abuse.
ReplyDeleteA picture of destruction with zombies and all. Not quite realizing we could be our own enemy destroying what we endeavor to build. Great write Charles!
ReplyDeleteHank
What a fascinating but equally dreadful time we live in now. We are becoming slaves to technology instead of using it for the greater good, in the end once computers do become self aware, that which we have created may well decide that we are no longer useful and 'do away' with us as a species. Science fiction has usually at some point in time become science fact.
ReplyDeleteNightmare scenario here, where empathy, compassion have given way to death as being seen as no loss.
Great writing
"Deceit / is a ploy, baby face a diversion..." -
ReplyDeletepowerful work there charles, and those last two lines...
thank you much ;-)
wow! Fantastic conclusion!
ReplyDelete