Soledar Dreaming

Tags

Australian poet, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Russo / Ukraine war, Soledar, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet, Ukraine war

The town of salt, the fortress, is no more.

The Wagnerites have brought it to the ground.

The tipping point of this most bloody war

Is reached, as to the west the big guns pound

Retreating beaten men, not homeward bound,

But to a new graveyard, there to expire

And go to pieces, never to be found

Amongst the rotting fragments in the mire.

In Kyiv the thespian, unrivalled liar,

This hero of a West that’s lost its way,

Tastes of the meat he draws forth from the fire,

And in his thoughtlessness is heard to say:

 “I do believe it needs a little salt.”

The sleeping soldier wakens with a jolt.

— D.N. O’Brien

Cold War

Tags

Australian poet, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Russo ? Ukraine War, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

The colours, yellow, blue, and white, and red,

Adorn the bodies lying in the snow.

The living, coloured so, pass by the dead

As onwards to uncertain fate they go.

The naked frosted trees, row after row,

Give little shelter as the last leaves fall.

The bitter cold it bites as chill winds blow.

A coat of ice clings to each shattered wall.

While into frozen rubble cold men crawl,

High in the safety of the sombre clouds  

Watch soulless robots, and the shots they call,

And blackness blows and cloaks white winter shrouds.

Comes night, when cold into each bone it seeps.

The soldier says once more his prayers, and sleeps.

— D.N. O’Brien

Fools Rush In

Tags

Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

Fools Rush In

Into the void now left, (for God is dead),

Flow swiftly, weird beliefs and strange ideas.

To fill the vacuumed space within each head,

Advance the cults and creeds of crazy seers;

Of Eastern mystics, deviants, and queers.

The ancient faith is now consigned to trash,

As rise once more the superstitious fears.

Cathedrals and their icons burn to ash,

As statues of old heroes fall and smash.

But history will warn — so it’s wiped clean,

And those who’d dare remind us feel the lash.

The frightened masses fear to intervene,

As evil men are uplifted and praised,

And massive monuments to madness raised.

— 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

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

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

Demented Democracy?

Tags

democracy, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲?

Democracy, a system often praised,

Assumes that those who vote are mostly sane.

But what if more than half of them are crazed?

Thus less than half, the sane ones that remain.

To whom would this minority complain?

To those who are elected by the ill?

What would such evil actors have to gain

By bending to a far-outnumbered will?

Democracy is not so hard to kill —

It dies, then comes a sick one party state.

The nation could be governed by a dill

To whom the crazy voters could relate —

Perhaps an old guy half way round the twist;

Could such a possibility exist?

— D.N. O’Brien

A Sonnet for Kamala

Tags

Kamala Harris, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

(Since I don’t think Joe can be kept alive for much longer)

(I recycled this from one I wrote for Hillary, but she let me down)

𝐀  𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭  𝐟𝐨𝐫  𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚

A female President? – What could go wrong?
In government one has to compromise,
And we all know the fairer sex is strong
In that regard, and too, unlike the guys,
Gals hold no grudges and they tell no lies.
Logical, clear-headed, rational, and
Like Solomon, judicious, fair, and wise.
Male politicians, on the other hand,
Behave in ways no one can understand.
So with a female leader we can live.
A change for good is sweeping o’er the land.
We need a President with love to give.
Into the depths ancient suspicions hurl,
And give the highest office to a girl.

— D.N. O’Brien

A Visit From the Truth Police

Tags

Australian poet, Facebook fact checking, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet, Truth Police

𝐀 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞

A knock upon the door disturbs the peace:
“We know you’re in there sir, let us inside!
We are, perhaps you’ve guessed, the Truth Police,
And we have solid proof that you have lied.
A certain lie you posted has been spied
By our Fact-checkers — open up the door!
There is no place to run, no place to hide!
We have our orders to enforce the law,
And liars like you no way will we ignore!
Now let us in! You lying terrorist!”
(They bash the door down, throw me to the floor,
Put in the boot.) “Now we are really pissed!
We asked you nicely — you would not comply.
Now you’ll learn facts are fiction — that’s no lie.”

— D.N. O’Brien

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐧)

Tags

Australian poet, Covid-19, poem, poetry, Socialism, sonnet, The Great Reset

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐧)

All stuff (except for ours) the state now owns.
And by the state, we mean the global state.
Apart for your pathetic flesh and bones,
You’ve no possessions — we’ll decide your fate.
We’ll issue you with special mobile phones,
So we can listen in to all you say.
You’ll be observed around the clock by drones —
We must know where you go, and where you stay.
You need not fear as long as you obey
Our clear directives — do as you are told.
Make no mistake, all deviants will pay.
(In sweat and blood — since we have all the gold)

To Covid we must now extend our thanks —
We didn’t need those missiles, guns, and tanks.

— D.N. O’Brien