World War Zero

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Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Crimean War, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Triolet, World War Zero

(“The Crimean War is one of the bad jokes of history.” – Philip Guedalla)

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝  𝐖𝐚𝐫  𝐙𝐞𝐫𝐨

The Ottoman Empire is in decline —

Six hundred thousand men prepare to die.

In Europe noble relatives sip wine —

The Ottoman Empire is in decline.

The nobles fear the Russians wish to dine

On Turkey — they’ll wage war on Nicolai.

The Ottoman Empire is in decline —

Six hundred thousand men prepare to die.

— D.N. O’Brien

Fools Rush In

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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

A Discarded Inauguration Day Sonnet

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Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Formal poetry, Inauguration Day Poem, Joe Biden inauguration, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

𝐀 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐭

In praise of Joe this poem I have writ.
But I’ll not mention any of his flaws —
His hair-sniffing, his groping, all that shit;
His keen support for all those foreign wars.
I love him, for he’s opened many doors
For me, a budding poet laureate.
Oh I know old Joe farts — at times he snores;
But he’ll be dead before long — you can bet
Your house on that. Still, let us not regret
Selecting this frail, barely conscious guy
To lead our fast decaying nation — let
Him show the way as all the old ways die.

I’ll start again and throw this in the bin.
I’ll write some whiny waffle — that should win!

— D.N. O’Brien

Certa Cito

Tags

121 Signal Squadron, Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Formal poetry, Gough Whitlam, poem, poetry, Royal Australian Signal Corps, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet

𝑪𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒐

The plan is hatched by foolish faceless men.
The squadron’s fate by treachery is sealed.
The method and the why, the where, the when,
Is to the gathered malcontents revealed.
All that the patriotic have concealed
Will be exposed just when the time is right;
The squadron will be banished from the field —
Its troops will be destroyed without a fight —
All trace of it will fade into the night,
And none will mourn its swift and sure demise;
And on its fate no one will shine a light.
But those who filled its ranks — its ears and eyes,
Who served and sweated on that Asian Hill,
They know how easily mere words can kill.

— D.N. O’Brien

Taken

Tags

Australian traditional poetry, poem, poetry

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧

Oh pretty girl, now you grow old,
As does the boy who caught your eye.
But you were taken — bound with gold,
And who would break the seal? Not I.

— D.N. O’Brien

Domino Theory

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Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Belt and Road, Chinese aggression, Chinese expansionism, Chinese infiltration, Chinese spying, Domino Theory, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Vietnam War

Domino Theory

The “Domino Theory”? — Man, that’s so old hat!
We Chinese know many ways to skin a cat.
No need to send armies — make deals! — we can buy
Left wing politicians in blink of an eye!
In Aussie, a target, we have Labor guys
On payroll — have also an army of spies!
We lease port of Darwin — these Aussies so dumb!
We gain naval access for miserly sum.
Take over Australia? It not very hard.
If they try to stop us we play racist card!
We’ll liberate shortly the folk in Hong Kong;
To Mao they’ll be bowing before very long!
And in South East Asia no need to wage war;
Our sneaky takeover those bozos ignore.
For we have a plan that we call “Belt and Road”.
(Means world domination in our secret code).
Yes “Domino Theory” is rubbish you dunce!
Now dominoes, they all fall over at once!

— D.N. O’Brien

Stage Four — the Paid Piper

Tags

Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Dan Andrews Premier of Victoria, Formal poetry, Kim Jong-un, North Korea, Paying the piper, poem, poetry, Stage four Corona Virus Lock-down, State of Disaster declared in Victoria, Triolet

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 — 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐫

Victoria is moving to stage four.
(Dictator Dan’s a fan of Kim Jong-un).
They’re shutting all the gates and every door —
Victoria is moving to stage four.
The piper stands and plays the tune: “It’s war!”
(Dan pays the piper, so he calls the tune).
Victoria is moving to stage four.
(Dictator Dan’s a fan of Kim Jong-un).

— D.N. O’Brien

Deicide

Tags

Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Übermensch, Beyond Good and Evil, Deicide, Frederick Nietzsche, God is Dead, Nihilism, poem, poetry, sonnet, Spenserian sonnet, The Gay Science, the Superman, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

There isn’t enough water to wash clean
The evidence of murder — all the blood.
The body, once in white, stripped and obscene;
This One, this fashioner of fire and flood,
Who moulded us from cold primeval mud;
We’ve pierced His heart with science’s shining blade —
No longer will we hear its mighty thud.
The steady beat of ages soon will fade
As in his grave the slain Creator’s laid.
And with what laws will we His laws replace?
And by whom will morality be made?
Who will bestow upon the people grace?
You say, within, these virtues must be found;
But Supermen are thin upon the ground.

— D.N. O’Brien