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.

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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

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