Nature's Eye

There once were two sparrows, playing among the trees,

One of many small creatures in rolling fields of green.

They sang and they soared,

Never once were they bored.

They wanted for nothing, not food nor warmth,

Yet what happened next was never forewarned.

There came one day where a rumbling emerged.

Had the forces of nature grown and converged?

They flew towards the thunderous sound,

But no drops of rain had yet touched the ground.

Below them the world of men seemed aflame,

Wheeled machines spat fire, recoiling to fire again.

In shock were they to witness this,

Humans disappearing into red mist.

The earth itself churned and moaned,

Those injured groan and die alone.

Down the birds swooped to silence the guns,

Screaming at the men, "there is nothing to be won!"

The men took no notice, but their machines replied "Doom",

Howling through the sky with a gleeful, "Wooo".

A wicked hail of steel cleansed the land of life,

Madness prevailing reason at such great a price.

More of their kind simply ceased to be,

Man had taken cruelty to new degree.

Fleeing the storm of fire and lead, the sparrows fly to their nest,

In despair they find there's nothing left, a shattered stump at best.

In confusion and sadness they fly anywhere,

but the sound of hot metal still whizzed in the air.

Thorned vines of twisted steel grew out from the bloody soil.

Beasts of burden made of iron burn black with coal and oil.

The men began to dig, seeking shelter from their hell,

When they get to heaven, to their savior what will they tell?

With a scornful roar came crashing one shell too many,

One sparrow left the earth and now it's imaginary.

The sky turned dark with mourning and welled up in tears,

The land became a tar pit where all may disappear.

The one lonely sparrow drifted hopelessly above the craters,

Sprawled among the poppies, bodies lay torn like tissue paper.

Suddenly the blow of a whistle shrieks through the eerie silence,

Together in a frightening chorus, men shout out their defiance.

Crawling from their ditches, they are violently thrown back in,

Forced into a futile struggle they know they cannot win.

A sea of horizon blue crashes like the waves,

Within the force of a human tide, thousands find their graves.

Beneath the war machines incessant stammer and rattle,

Their masters reap the dark harvest of great and terrible battle.

Few souls return alive from their baptism within the fire,

But it seems that only endless death is what the humans desire.

Another bird approaches, a pigeon with a message,

"Is this the way to headquarters? My master has the advantage!"

The sparrow demanded a prompt explanation,

"What has brought man to such abberation?"

The pigeon with bowed head solemnly replied,

"Understanding is beyond us, but it makes me want to cry".

A smell like old hay rose from nowhere,

The messenger pigeon immediately flew clear.

"Fly into the sky if you want to keep living,

It's the other sides turn to start the cycle of killing!"

Taking off at such speed that wings nearly tore,

Climbing into the sky ever more and more.

Peace reigned in the clouds though the storm still raged,

For one moment in time, there were years that aged.

Then there came the swarming buzz of engines and propeller,

Then the whip and whack of lead that missed and those that entered.

What is this beast of war that man has now unleashed?

Now the skies are burning too and there can be no peace.

Returning to the ground, perched upon a broken tree,

A land once familiar, transformed as far as the eye could see.

The rats now rule and grow fat on the corpses,

Yet still bigger guns are dragged in on the backs of horses.

To and fro, they fight back and forth,

Nothing is gained so what's it all worth?

A whiff of sulphur alerts to a new danger,

Flames pour forward in a stream of pure anger.

Through technological sorcery, man can now breathe fire.

How much hatred for ones own kind do such inventions require?

The attention of the sparrow was drawn to a canine,

Why is this poor creature out here on the frontlines?

The dog told the sparrow he actually volunteered,

In service to his master whose life he holds dear.

"When will all this murder end?" says the sparrow, "I am sick of it to the core!"

"Some say it never will, that it is a war to end all wars".

The master beckons his pet to come, I guess this is goodbye.

The hound looks back with wagging tail, "I'll see you on the other side".

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/4lo81n/real_love/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/4lkyvf/more_drunken_poetry/