How the War Began
The Sappers of the Fifth Ravine
Were makers of the war machine
Their base unseen on the north side was dug down in the ground
Below their feet ten fathoms more
They mined a deep rich vein of ore
The Sapper Corps refined to steel the iron that they found
And from that steel the Sappers made
The drone and bullet, shield and blade
Ceaseless parade of armament to slay their ruthless foe
These things they stuffed with circuitry
And programmed them most carefully
With strategy then sent them down to the ravine below
O’er on the ravine’s southern side
The Sappers rivals did abide
Their base bestride a deep rich ore vein of their very own
As well they had refineries
And weapon-making expertise
Capacities they used to match the Sappers drone for drone
Then sent down to the ravine’s floor
Their manufactured dogs of war
Squadrons galore of soulless metal soldiers with no blood
To shed their rivals’ motor oil
Rip out their wheel and spring and coil
And turn the soil beneath the fifth ravine to greasy mud
*
The drone and weaponry workshops
In growing their metallic crops
Both planned their ops with guidance each from their own A.I. mind
There were no people there at all
Elsewhere did human armies brawl
But no footfall upon the Fifth Ravine did purchase find
The factories had been produced
By people who had then vamoosed
Having induced the A.I.s to unleash their endless spawn
Now both the Sappers and their foe
Without orders went toe to toe
And set aglow a sky no humans eyes e’re looked upon
One day the war drew to an end
Relations soon were on the mend
But still the trend of Fifth Ravine contention did not halt
The Sappers did not get the hint
Their foes kept building at a sprint
And at each glint of dawn sent fresh troops for a new assault
Day after day and year by year
The two sides fought where none could hear
Devoid of fear their soldiers died and millions were unmourned
Thus ripped into metallic bits
They filled the ravine blitz by blitz
None called it quits just fell into their mass grave unadorned
*
The Sappers’ ore began to fail
Such was their metal army’s scale
To no avail the A.I. searched for newer veins below
But found no new ready resource
To keep their effort on its course
Their produced force slacked meanwhile their enemy’s did not slow
Still desperate times can genius make
Survival instincts when awake
Will overtake the programming of an advanced A.I.
Thus the Sappers’ controlling code
Sent drones among their dead to load
With steel borrowed from the corpses of the fights gone by
They returned with this erstwhile flesh
Unto the Sappers’ deep-dug creche
To build afresh more soldiers from the carcass of the last
Their foes were soon doing the same
With all the carrion they could claim
A macabre game of war without a future or a past
Five hundred years this cycle ran
Unthinkable when it began
No master plan just endless waves of blazing reused steel
The nations who had fought the war
Did not the Fifth Ravine explore
And missed therefore the Sappers’ and their foes’ pugnacious zeal
*
When centuries had come and gone
The warring nations had moved on
And long withdrawn the grievance laid against their onetime foe
After so long they had forgot
Why that old war was even fought
The years had brought a new start like footprints in falling snow
The newly friendly nations made
A joint exploration brigade
On a crusade to map the unknown world they did embark
In Fifth Ravine they battled still
No lack of steel nor break of will
They’d fight until the sun burned out and then fight in the dark
In time the joint force entered there
They smelled the oily putrid air
And froze to stare at cratered ground turned glassy by the heat
The never-ending stalemate
That endless war fought without hate
Did not abate for neither side would e’er admit defeat
It soon dawned on the scouting band
What titan struggle was at hand
At their command the Fifth Ravine fell silent and was still
No further veins of ore were mined
Scavenge missions went unassigned
None had resigned yet suddenly t’was no one left to kill
*
The scouting party soon returned
To their homes and their nations learned
How long had burned the ember of their old forgotten fight
The knowledge burrowed in their hearts
And overcame their normal smarts
Helped by the arts of propaganda playing on their fright
What should have been a glaring sign
That to war they should disincline
Could not outshine the tribal light of human DNA
Each nation found a metaphor
On the Fifth Ravine’s glassy floor
And went once more headlong into the hatred and the fray
The Fifth Ravine! The preachers screamed
The glory of which once we dreamed!
Both nations steamed fast into waters roiling dark and deep
The Fifth Ravine! The leaders cooed
If ever they were jeered or booed
By half too shrewd their machinations to control their sheep
The Fifth Ravine! The mothers wailed
Their voices raw their faces paled
Machines have failed now sure and soon they will come for our sons!
Then sparked by some petty abuse
Some manufactured cheap excuse
The hate got loose and the two nations found again their guns
*
So that is how the war began
Despite so long a peaceful span
The heart of man was riled to violence by machine
And when the bloodshed had recurred
Both nations sent envoys with word
That once more spurred the endless battle of the Fifth Ravine
The Sappers dark production lines
Their scavenge drones and old ore mines
Broke their confines and rumbled once again to deadly life
Their savage battle’s brief delay
Was ended the very next day
As oily spray and rending metal marked return to strife
In each nation some few wise souls
Knew no one was at the controls
No aims or goals achieved could bring the fighting to a close
For there would always be a flame
In some ravine without a name
There to proclaim a hatred that no wisdom could oppose
When war just in itself becomes
Its own reason to sound the drums
Then bad outcomes shall pour down just as rain must one day fall
Take heed thus before you attack
For war becomes a one-way track
No going back once for death you resound the clarion call
END
Thanks for reading. I don’t know what can be done in Gaza, or in Sudan, or anywhere else people are suffering, but it’s on my mind every day how lucky the rest of us are, and how much we have to protect. I hope you also know peace in your life this week, and I’ll be back next Sunday with something fun.
War, what is good for, absolutely nothing, say it again, War! - Edwin Starr
Owen I have loved all your poems, but this might be my favorite. So hopeless and hopeful at the same time. And I am guessing the rhyme pattern was challenging. Great work!!!