Thursday, April 26, 2007

Civilized Killing

Ancient Arrows
Former slayers in the wars of men
Now mounted on the walls of their dens

Useless arrows
Too impractical for the modern age
There are easier ways to pierce a flesh-bound cage

Savage Arrows
Too barbaric for the modern man
You lack the dignity of the bombs in our hands

Hang, shrouded in mystery
Teach us something of our history

You are a senior citizen of war
Knocking on death's door
Lingering on life support
To induldge our indignant thrill

Show us how far mankind has come
While we polish our efficient guns
Those brutal savages knew none
Of the civilized ways to kill

Hang, shrouded in mystery
Teach us something of our history

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

yeah, the only thing arrows are good for nowadays is pointing at things on the computer screen.

Anonymous said...

So, I take it that you are not a big fan of the second ammendment or the NRA, huh?

Tia Lynn said...

Everyone who reads this poem always asks me that. :)

I'm all for the second ammendment, I believe responsible citizens have the right to bare arms. I must admit, I'm not cool with the NRA, not because they advocate the rights of people to have guns, but because they are a powerful lobby that has abused their power, making it very difficult for reasonable restrictions on gun purchases and ownership or even a REAL discussion of the issue.

But this poem has more to do with the sanctity of life and our tendency to consider ourselves more civilized than the generations that have gone before us.