Brothers in Arms

Tags

Australian poet, Brothers in arms, Formal poetry, poem, poetry

𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬  𝐢𝐧  𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐬

Dark and grim, as winter’s chill

Creeps through the barracks, cold and still,

Where in a dreary dingy room

Four men are gathered in the gloom;

And three, they cast disdainful eyes

Upon the fourth, as he denies

What they see plainly as his guilt;

The evidence of blood he’s spilt —

The scarlet stains upon his clothes,

His swollen hands — his broken nose.

For they have seen each gouge and gash;

Beneath his bed, the stolen cash.

And each has known the man he killed.

And each has known the heart he stilled.

When there’s no question of a doubt,

Swift justice must be carried out.

If not, the killer may walk free;

But judge and jury are the three,

And all are young and wise and strong,

And not a chance their judgement wrong.

And so a gallows is contrived,

Where stands the fighter who’s survived.

His sunken eyes, devoid of hope,

Gaze upward at the hanging rope;

For well he knows, his end is sure —

Condemned by that unwritten law:

That soldiers, since the dawn of time,

Enforce for that unholy crime

Of fratricide by gun or knife —

The taking of a brother’s life.

So the condemned bows to his fate;

For but a second has to wait;

Then crashes on the floor a chair,

And there beneath his feet — but air.

— D.N. O’Brien

A Reasonable God

Tags

Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Devils by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Formal poetry, Friedrich Nietzsche, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

A Reasonable God

“So soon belief will end and leave a void;

A godless empty place”, the thinker said.

“When all the faiths that filled it are destroyed,

And all that they stood for is cold and dead.”

And so the writer, with a sense of dread,

Foretold how men would kill their deities.

Would have no need of them — their daily bread

Would still be theirs; there’d be no need to please

Imagined gods; to fall down on their knees

And pray to empty space; was science’s turn

To rule the minds of men. The poles would freeze;

The tides would rise and fall, the sun would burn;

No gods or their fair angels would be missed.

The new God, Science, would rule with an iron fist.

— D.N. O’Brien

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡

Tags

Australian poet, Covid madness, limerick, Limerick poem, Limerick poetry, poem, poetry

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡

Keep us in strict isolation,

And block skeptical information.

Close our borders — lock tight!

But don’t turn out the light!

For we are the terrified nation.

— D.N. O’Brien

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝

Tags

Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Civil War, Disunity, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝

It’s obvious; the split is now too wide.

There is no chance such gaping wounds can heal.

There is no common ground — a stark divide;

No compromise; no way to cut a deal.

But stay united for the common weal?

Forget it — that would surely end in woe.

A separation will a truth reveal —

That old one — all will reap but what they sow.

For one’s intent is high, the other’s low;

And nature’s laws suggest the first will win.

It’s time to end this endless to and fro;

The union must now take it on the chin.

The best outcome would be a swift divorce;

A civil war’s unthinkable of course.

— D.N. O’Brien

Climate of Fear

Tags

Australian poet, Climate change gravy train, Climate Change Scam, epigram, Formal poetry, Man-made climate change, poem, poetry

𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞  𝐨𝐟  𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫

Man-made climate change is weird

For it one cannot measure;

But for so long as it is feared

 Amassed will be much treasure.

— D.N. O’Brien

𝐀𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Tags

Australian poet, Formal poetry, Italian sonnet, Judeo Christian religions, Petrarchan sonnet, poem, poetry, sonnet

𝐀𝐧  𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭  𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

But you are not religious! You don’t pray!

Pray tell us, why then give them your support?

Why for their ancient values have you fought?

Their god you do not worship — nor obey;

Nor do you rest on his most holy day.

Of their god and his book you know but naught!

And yet you say their values must be taught!

Tell us your reasoning! What do you say!

No knowledge of religion do I need,

To see which nations with success are blessed —

Which creed lays down a firm and stable base.

The nations that spring from that common seed,

I have observed — such nations are the best.

True, I am skeptical —but facts I face.

— D.N. O’Brien

𝐀𝐧 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

Tags

Ancient Rome, Australian poet, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Triolet

𝐀𝐧  𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥  𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

Times are much like the dying days of Rome.

The parallels are too clear to ignore.

To roost, the chickens are returning home —

Times are much like the dying days of Rome.

That history recorded in the tome,

Of plague, decay, decline, and civil war.

Times are much like the dying days of Rome.

The parallels are too clear to ignore.

— D.N. O’Brien

Stolypin

Tags

Столыпин, limerick, poem, poetry, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin, Russia, Russian Empire, Russian revolution, Soviet Union

Столыпин

 Lenin answered a question — he said:

“Had he lived would have Russia turned red?

Well I doubt it comrade —

 No, had Stolypin stayed

 He’d have foiled us, so we shot him dead.”

— D.N. O’Brien

Imagine the MSM

Tags

Biden's dementia, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, limerick, main stream media left bias, poem, poetry

𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐒𝐌

Imagine if Trump slurred his words.

Was quite clearly off with the birds.

They’d close for the kill.

But Joe, poor old dill,

They hide his dementia  — the turds.

— D.N. O’Brien

49 BC

Tags

Ancient Rome, Brundisinium, Corfinium, Domitious, I'm a good ole rebel, Julius Caesar, poem, poetry, Pompey the Great, Rebellion, Rebels, Rubicon River, Song lyrics

(To the tune of “I’m a Good Ole Rebel”)

𝟒𝟗 𝐁𝐂

Was in the year of 49, on the eleventh day,

Caesar crossed the Rubicon to make the Senate pay.

Mounted on his charger, mounted proud and tall,

Came to the peninsular the conqueror of Gaul.

Leading but one legion, but soon so many more,

Caesar reached Corfinium to open up the war.

Unsheathed was every gladius, the javelins were loosed;

The army of Domitious by Caesar’s was reduced.

Came the victor Caesar, came the victor home.

Pompey and the senators all scurried south from Rome.

Caesar followed in pursuit, but in the end he failed,

For reaching Brundisinium he learned that they had sailed.

Off to Greece they headed, to fight another day.

Caesar headed westward and invested old Marseilles.

With ten loyal legions at his side, about to rule the seas —

Great Pompey would Julius soon bring unto his knees.

Caesar crossed the Rubicon way back in 49.

Caesar was a rebel, and the rebel crossed the line.

And Caesar was the victor for he waged war to the knife,

And Rome would he the rebel rule — til rebels took his life.

— D.N. O’Brien

After reading:

https://flammeusgladius.wordpress.com/2021/06/09/concise-guide-to-the-new-symbolism-of-the-damn-yankee-flag/