Master's of War



Masters of War

I.
Come, architects of agony, weavers of pain
Crafters of guns, where innocence is slain.
Your death planes soar, a symphony of despair
Bombs born in shadows, a toxic affair.
Behind fortress walls and desks adorned with disdain
Your masks can’t cover the truth; ghastly scars remain.
II.
Behind citadels of stone, where power takes root
Destruction molded in shadows acute.
Desks of doom, where choices of evil are made
Your masks can’t cloak the sins that won’t fade.
A haunting question, heavy with dread
Can wealth cleanse your blood-stained hands so red?
III.
Masters of War, your protective netting cast.
As missiles descend, a masterpiece so vast.
From the ashes, black smoke ascends, veiling the sun.
Fire engulfs the city, buildings crumble; chaos has begun.
Body parts scatter in a tragic ballet.
Children weep, with their innocence, they pay
IV.
Is your gold so pure, a currency of sin?
Can it purchase forgiveness as your tale of malice spins?
Can your riches mend hearts, shredded and torn?
 So much destruction left behind, lands forlorn.
As death takes its toll, a relentless knell
No treasures can resurrect what befell.
V.
When the sky darkens and the rivers turn red
Will your affluence matter after your death?
Can your money buy you peace, or is it a guise
To conceal the truth in your power-hungry eyes?
The payment of deeds, a haunting toll
Echoes through time, a requiem for the soul.
VI.
All possessions hoarded in your castle of control
Fade away as your history of devastation is exposed
No fortune can redeem your soul’s tainted hue.
Masters of War, with a legacy of hate ice-cold
You’ll face a reckoning as your story unfolds.

About this poem

The poem is a war protest song.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Written on November 28, 2023

Submitted by dburriskitchen on December 06, 2023

1:33 min read
39

Quick analysis:

Scheme X ABBCCBBADDEEFFAGGHHIIJXXKKLLJFXMMNNANXXXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,680
Words 313
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 1, 41

Deborah Burris-Kitchen

Deborah J. Burris-Kitchen, Ph.D., is a Professor of Criminology and Department Chair at Tennessee State University in Nashville. She is the author of Female Gang Participation (Edwin Mellen Press, 1997). In addition, she co-authored an article on racism in higher education in the College Student Journal (2000). Her publications include a book titled Short Rage: an autobiographical look at Heightism in America (2002). She has a book chapter (July 2010) titled Pathways to Prison: Implications for the Health and Mental Health in the African American Community in Handbook for African American Health Psychology: Evidence-based Treatment and prevention practices (edited by Robert Hampton & Ray Crowell); From Slavery to Prisons: A Historical Delineation of the Criminalization of African Americans (2010); a journal article titled Short Rage Revisited (2018); and Deviance and Control, Kendall and Hunt (2020) and a second edition of Deviance and Control was released by Kendall and Hunt in 2021. Dr. Burris-Kitchen has served as the research committee chair and Vice President of the National Organization of Short-Statured Adults (NOSSA). She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi. She has served as President of the Association of Humanist Sociology (AHS) and was a member of AHS for many years. She has also been a member of the American Society of Criminology and the American Sociological Association. Dr. Burris –Kitchen is an activist who fights against violence, racism, exploitation, greed, and capitalism. more…

All Deborah Burris-Kitchen poems | Deborah Burris-Kitchen Books

1 fan

Discuss the poem Master's of War with the community...

2 Comments
  • tims.29998
    In some ways it mirrors my own style. I usually do not end poetry with a happy ending for the most part, being a horror sify writer myself. I like the flow as well, and the fact that the poet is not lazy with the stanzas it tells the whole story. 
    LikeReply3 months ago
  • marshallfaine
    Darkly evocative and memorable. The use of apocalyptic language made the reader a witness to the imagery, and an accomplice it, and the moral threaded throughout resonated. Even after I was finished reading, it lingered in my mind. Well done, and well-deserved. 
    LikeReply3 months ago

Translation

Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Citation

Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Master's of War" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/178144/master's-of-war>.

Become a member!

Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

April 2024

Poetry Contest

Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
2
days
9
hours
52
minutes

Special Program

Earn Rewards!

Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

Browse Poetry.com

Quiz

Are you a poetry master?

»
Who wrote the nonsense poem Jabberwocky?
A Spike Milligan
B Edward Lear
C Lewis Carroll
D Ogden Nash