Stark Reality

I

let out the slack
take off the lines
heave ‘round
underway, shift colors

teary eyes strain
as the homeland shrinks
like a distant corridor,
my love lies waiting
praying
into a callous wind

like knights on crusade
in aluminum armor
we slice blue horizons
crossing a rising sun
with our dark overlord
whose well endowed ego
means more
than the petty lives
of those who protect him

in the belly of the warbeast
we labor night and day
suspended in time
separated from ties
that make us sane

II

automation      …
such a clean method
to kill fellow humans
seeing symbols
hearing booms
and the mighty swooooshhh
of soulless missiles
watching intercept
and a screen gone blank
without screaming
 
i’m a radar technician
giving sight and aim
to the beast
he sees what i show him
asking no questions
never feeling weary
just nods, and snorts, and smiles
and does his deadly deed

III

ordered to the ready
keen, yet unaware
second after endless second
homesick and frightened
we thumb thru letters
and pictures
and breakdown our dreams
 
i study the faces
of all the fine men
who depend on me
and i on them
to survive
i have the power
to terminate
warbeast’s silicon thoughts
but not my own…
 
the beast sounds a warning
but i’m ordered to ignore
his emotionless cries
what do you mean hold fiiii???
loud screeching impact
panic
       fire
            pain
swept away
 
as bulkheads crash
and waters rush in
i nod, and snort, and smile
and silence my snowy mind

Ville France, France ‘87