February 18, 2011

  •  

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Victory Abstracted

     

    How does one human commit another human to a possible ending of that human’s life?

    Exercising the power given him with an endorsement of his name

    By a majority of other humans who should have known better...

     

    It is a sad commentary on those dazzled by rhetoric but anecdotally uninformed

    Granting this authority to one whose eloquence belies a history of imperfect compromises

    His age and mannerisms more in keeping with those he is relegating to possible execution                

    By road-side bomb or bullet...

     

    The executioners are a clever exceptional people

    Corrupted by the beauty and bounty of a deadly flower...

     

    More than two thousand years ago

    The boy-general Alexander and his hordes of disciplined fighters

    Spread their plenitude of seed

    Among the women of these fierce tribal warriors they never vanquished

    And throughout this rugged impassable land of harsh mountains and wild rushing rivers

    The physiognomy of these people  

    Still bears witness to the rampagings of Alexander’s vicious Macedonians...

     

    Past conflicts of this sort by other invaders of this medieval land

    Preclude its hollow “victory”... washed in the blood of wasted lives and treasure...