HOME* Main Poem Index* January Poem List* Next Poem Their Number Spectres of war appear upon the stage Defining their nature by what they do While encountering masses filled with rage In midst of a question of what is true When the masses arrive over some time Singing to values offset from the view Instilled by those meters ticking out rhyme Denying confusion "colors with hue" Forcing loyalty "choose two sides per fence" Prior to deciding whose friends are foes Who'll be allowed demarcation's pretense During conditioned survival of woes: Separation for safety was the rule Allowing nations to evolve with peace Though the wise of one to others was the fool Who entered purgatory for release Observing "how peaceful the dead appear" Holding their beatened hearts in their cold hands Like those who keep dead men on crosses near As their god kills sons for moral commands Shadows darken as silence sweeps the earth Warlords waken from decades of slumber Willing soldiers ponder their death in dirth While officers strive to increase their number (c)ERA 14Jan2003