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Monday, August 15, 2016

The Octiverse (Or Wise-Hall-Flea's Stolen Popularity. See below.)

The Octiverse

Actually, Wise Hall Flea's stolen popularity depended mostly on a campaign by my viewers to force views onto one of my YouTube videos, but it fell within this period. The band's front person later, on the radio, boasted of having a million and a half views over the weekend.

Here are links to eight poems of eight chapters of eight verses, totaling 512 verses or 2048 lines of rhyming verse. This work was first shared in 2007 and I was forced to see it stolen, chapter by chapter, by a crooked TV network as I wrote it, which led to my decision to erase it and the remainder of my account from the web. And the disease-like way I am being treated in the present reminds me exactly how I was treated when I first shared this vast work of my love. IF ANY OUTSIDE POSTS STILL EXIST ONLINE THAT DUPLICATES THIS CONTENT, THEY ARE UNAUTHORIZED. PLEASE FLAG THEM DOWN AND ALERT THE POLICE.

The Obelisk

The Marathon

The Herald

The Heavenly Escapade

The Masterpiece

The Tunesmith

The Mammals

The Tartar War

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The Tartar War (Complete)

Here's the whole thing now. I didn't share Part VIII in 2007 because I didn't want those clowns destroying its serious message with their damn comedy show. And a lot of good it did me.

I: The Fog

The war that held the nations in a general calamity
According to official records, modestly began at sea
A slender drop of tartar on a navigator's instrument
Induced an incident that would be lastingly significant

Away from safe and neutral waters for her taunting exercise
The vessel trespassed flagrantly as all onboard remained unwise
Where testing of new armaments to better to deploy know how
Provoked a hail of angry shots that sharply glanced across her bow

The consequential rupture through the highest power's corridor
Cost influential delegates their once precarious rapport
A trade agreement, months to mend, summarily was voted down
As seafood flew in hot exchange before the speaker's sternest frown

There hadn't been in ages a dispute sufficiently intense
For eagerest belligerents to test their limits of defence
Or for a young man restless in the stagnant atmosphere of peace
To have a chance to his disgruntlement against a foe release

The War Department, drawing on experiences of the past
Preferred a cautious strategy above the fury of the blast
The volatile voters were secure on the domestic front
For the initial ground campaign, the volunteers would bear the brunt

The Ministry of Propaganda's offices were set to swell
With new recruits impatient to engage their captivating spell
Instructions to the masses would arrive from them on channels wide
With memos of superiors to use as their unfailing guide

Investors scooped a windfall from the market's sudden closing turn
At least the ones who had a major stake in a defence concern
By gambling correctly on their government's combative stance
Their faith in a negotiated settlement stood not a chance

In short, the Tartar War was as ridiculous in proper name
As it would be for its commencement to on any culprit blame
A critical decision bowing to the pressures of the day
Of people in a looping chain where no one held the final say

II: The Pilot

For Captain Scott, familiarity with his patrol's routine
Assured him there was no assault he couldn't get away from clean
Until he dared to make a second pass at a forbidding base
Whose rocket stripped him of his plane to tumble in the clear blue space

The wisdom of his cozy school, he had occasion to refute
When well above the safety zone, he opened up his parachute
And let himself be swallowed in the vast and panoramic scope
Descending to the wild wood with bare survival as his hope

His landing by observers tracked, his apprehension was a breeze
To contemplate his coming horrors left him feeling ill at ease
From pushy escort, freedom shocked, with well aimed arrows incoming
Delivered by who called themselves the children of the burning spring

On disadvantage's behalf, it was their attribute to act
Inviting him to share the shelter of a hut from flora hacked
Their hieroglyphs depicted as an active torch the local peak
Apparently the exit of an incandescent vapour leak

The base commander thought the flame too much of an unwelcome draw
With hard cement he'd stemmed its hole and made its light against the law
And now with entrance to its perch by somber sentries strictly manned
A push to take it from the ground was sounder dreamed than could be planned

The rescued man indulged in the repose of his idyllic gains
Participating in the hunt and painting scenes with berry stains
The women were attracted to the stranger from the morning sky
And to engage his company were none of them the least bit shy

An airstrip added to the base brought powered flight within his range
His stealthy raid to steal a plane with tribal help was to arrange
They silently subdued the guards, attacking in the dead of night
Before the siren sounded, he was in a cockpit, taking flight

He pivoted to see that the remaining planes would grounded stay
Providing the accomplices the time to make a getaway
Then arching to the mountaintop, his payload would ignite the blaze
To draw the cheering of his friends and win from them their highest praise

III: The Spy

By embassy officials had Penelope been proudly bred
The same who put the calling of a spy in her attractive head
Recruiting her from childhood to eavesdrop on the guests who came
For tidbits of importance in negotiations' ruthless game

She had a gift for languages that made her the astutest bet
To infiltrate the enemy where access to their plans was let
Their own assessment would confirm her typing was impeccable
And rate her presentation as both polished and professional

They hired her to shuffle papers in the transportation corps
An area with less of what precisely she was looking for
Though movements could be analyzed to military targets glean
And her employer dining with a general, she'd plainly seen

To get him into bed with her where she could force his secrets out
Applying her seductive charm, she masterfully went about
The mailroom clerk found her request a difficult one to resist
And finally allowed her leave to scan the senders on her list

Her prying eye identified the only knowledge she could use
Discovering her boss's love for glossy shots of women's shoes
The magazine subscription struck the woman as peculiar
For he who had no partner he could lavish, in particular

The fetish had a deep effect upon the footwear that she chose
To wiggle for his warped delight, she shamelessly exposed her toes
But he seemed not to notice as he tended to affairs of state
Regardless of her podia, he would not ask her on a date

Her subtle passes having failed to magnetize his interest
Improperly atop her desk she lifted up her pumps to rest
The tactic proved successful by the invitation that she found
To meet inside his office after work with no one else around

The hour reached, she checked herself and moved in for the final kill
And found the mailroom clerk instead with drink her cast off shoe to fill
He'd buried his subscription in the catalogs of his employ
In order to conceal his shame, no matter how he'd spies annoy

IV: The Battle

The khakis thought their bold assault would take their aquas by surprise
With all they had in men and arms, the order came to mobilize
Their focus was a stretch of pasture pushing well inside their zone
Whose long abandoned soil had by choking weeds been overgrown

Their armoured column ground along with disconcerting steadiness
As fighters shot past overhead to demonstrate their readiness
Morale was high enough for marchers to pursue a lively hymn
And in their step to furnish an additional degree of vim

But their intention had been known in time for equal force to mass
Opposing them in aqua trenches straight before where they would pass
Who'd lined the road on either side with crushing cannons to discharge
As long the invading army wanted to remain at large

Allowed to push as far as to the gates outside their dreary claim
Belonging to an area that to their eyes looked all the same
They opted to retire to the comfort of the canvas tent
From many days of marching had their energy been greatly spent

The hopeful promise of the dusk to give an interval of sleep
By blazing guns along their flank, would prove impossible to keep
A whole division fell at once, who'd occupied their outer row
In flimsy structures there condemned to face the muzzles of their foe

Determined to their posture keep, the khakis to their camp were bound
Releasing planes to terminate the lethal presence on the ground
The fires from the payloads caused a cauldron of infernal heat
In this successful rescue from an unexpected snap defeat

At night, the fell hostilities converted to a gripping clash
As hand-to-hand the combat sank and through the ranks the shells would smash
Machine guns peppered out on angles bent to wreak a heavy toll
And flames engulfed the battlefield to make the demolition whole

By dawn, the sole survivor in the middle of a ghastly heap
To plant his flag of triumph in the blood soaked surface firm and deep
Would find it beneficial to have had a better sense of line
When his proud stabbing stake released the detonation of a mine

V: The Hate

The Ministry of Propaganda's pitch to sell a bloody war
Would emphasize the causes that the people thought worth fighting for
And where their proclamations wanted substance in reality
The gap was filled by repetitions, broadcast to banality

The propagandists knew their target did not march or hold a gun
But nonetheless by their bombardment could be driven on the run
The thing that so insidiously stood to their success negate
Was any love that would not yield to wartime's sweeping tide of hate

An artist with a piercing view his hand was given to uphold
Had found a modest corner where his outlook could the crowd behold
Believing it important to sustain the virtue of his side
With others who would grow until they spanned the nations far and wide

Unable to withhold his insight, graphic images he drew
Of ultimate futility and foes who suffered losses too
He found the overstatement of the enemy's exclusive blame
An insult to his wisdom and a source of patriotic shame

To minimize the menace of his surging popularity
His image was beset by the defacers at the ministry
They used his plain humility to say his voice was fit to shun
And to explain his poverty, a litany of lies were spun

Although this made the people shy to hold him up for broad acclaim
The source of their enlightenment for most of them remained the same
To thwart his work's proliferation, shortened did the hours grow
Which pressured his detractors to purloin his whole portfolio

His honesty as manifested in expressions that they took
Gave their corrupt dissemination the more veritable look
Consigning him to suffer the appearance of a filthy fraud
And fierce rejection from the many tricked to think his word was flawed

His shining view befit a shadow blanketing from coast to coast
His love more like an incantation able to subdue a host
The harm of their outrageous crime brought no guilt to the culprits' mind
Belief in their illusions to their wrongdoing had made them blind

VI: The Captives

As prisoners, the soldiers knew their loyalty was under threat
From punishing effects of the interrogations they would get
Though sworn to put the obligations of their cherished country first
They soon forgot their duty, once deprived of sleep and mad with thirst

To look upon and be reminded how much worse might be their lot
Hung poor McGregor's beaten form, exposed to sunlight burning hot
For his refusal to accept the terms of capture he'd been shown
Kept just alive enough for the capacity to wince and moan

Their camp hewn out of timbers offered nary an amenity
But living standards lowered to the point of inhumanity
Which made the prospect of employment at the harsh munitions plant
By contrast to alternatives, seem positively elegant

With heads averted to avoid the shame imposed by their brave mate
They shuffled past him, headed for relief beyond the wire gate
To diligently arm the menace to their land with deadly strength
Determined not contemplate their moral sturdiness at length

They'd have to take on slavery to get an ordinary meal
But unobstructed scenery allowed them to like free men feel
As they stretched out their stiffened legs and gulped the vitalizing air
Permitted to at least enjoy their passage through the thoroughfare

The ragged file disappeared inside the great facility
To each survive another day, assured of their ability
As friendly troops advanced to liberate the camp they left behind
Wherein McGregor was the only prisoner that they would find

From his condition they could tell that to his honour he'd been true
And asked him if the whereabouts of other prisoners he knew
Unable to reply with words, his index finger was unbent
To indicate the vague direction that his absent comrades went

Above them, on the line he showed, flew bombers on a dour pass
Against the largest maker of the enemy's most toxic gas
A distant blast begat a frown on he who'd chosen death to face
And of the ones who'd clung to life, adorned the final resting place

VII: The Profiteer

Protruding through the lapping waves to furnish a clandestine breach
The captain's trusty periscope confirmed the target was in reach
A convoy of disjointed freighters, chugging out to open sea
With foodstuffs and cosmetic goods, according to the registry

The captain was a peacetime merchant whose connections guaranteed
A share of profits for increasing areas of market need
By raising prices of the items that were smartly stowed away
His submarine was out to make the customers unfairly pay

Inside his blazer was a letter sealed with an exotic stamp
To tell him that his son had been incarcerated in a camp
Relieved to know the war would end with his domestic life intact
To build a fortune for his happy homecoming he now could act

With speed enough to overtake the portly vessels from the back
He chose the nearest and began manoeuvring for an attack
With toothy swimming predators he was compelled to think alike
Engaging forward thrust until his ship was in the range to strike

Once bearings had been passed to guide the men on the torpedo bay
The captain's order came to fire on their unsuspecting prey
Again he checked his periscope to know the rightness of his aim
And smiled at the sight of a direct hit's swelling orange flame

A message came through on the set from uppermost authority
Which over current exercises strictly took authority
It told him that a freighter holding captives rather than supplies
Was passing through his sector and to not be fooled by this disguise

A panic overtook him as he pondered his potential loss
But of his situation he was still the undisputed boss
Commanding his compliant crew to surface and to pull astern
Of she which they had doomed, in order to her cargo's nature learn

The divers swept for scattered clues as flames expired undersea
Returning with the sole survivor of the morbid tragedy
His uniform's design and colour with their own appeared as one
But sadly he could only speak of bunking with their captain's son

VIII: The Toll

A healer's life superbly fits the most compassionate and kind
Which may explain the line of work that Doctor Good had been assigned
No patient needing urgent care was ever turned back from the door
Of his civilian practice which was discontinued by the war

Since then he'd brought the skills that complimented his humanity
To minister to wounded at the crux of the insanity
Where time imposed strict limits on the quality of his support
And pressures from the battle's turns began his vision to distort

The worst occurred when he had nurses out with him to make a call
Into a circle of the foe disastrously their truck did fall
Their rescue came from friendly troops who'd strayed from a position far
But not until assaults against his nurses tore an ugly scar

The leering overseer with a face that he could not forget
Eluded capture and was thought to be marauding freely yet
His failure to protect the nurses soured their relationship
And made the doctor pray the fiend would be delivered to his grip

With peace talks threatening to end his chance to even up the score
He changed his gloves and indicated he could take one patient more
From out of fallen foreigners whom no one else could tell apart
The man upon the gurney sent a heavy shudder through his heart

The strutting rapist was by bullets weakened and in nagging pain
As Doctor Good pulled down his mask to let his patient leer again
The galling face's look of shock eliminated his last doubt
Before the funnel for the gas would cover up its helpless pout

The wounds had not been critical until extended by his knife
Which went to work dismantling the organs that sustained a life
For Hippocratic obligations, this sick case would not be spared
To wake up in the post-op ward and learn that peace had been declared

Whatever prize might be pursued by men-at-arms at any date
However with potential or adventurous to contemplate
Is certain to exact from them at least a disappointing toll
At most, the unconditional surrender of the human soul

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

The Tartar War: Parts I-VII

This isn't all gags like SNL. I have some serious thoughts to share and only use my humour to make them a little easier to read. With respect to Part VII, I try to make up for the justice that is missing from my life in my stories, so it would be nice if they were left alone so that they don't add even more injustice to my life by outrageous fraud committed with my works. And to the one who says she only likes my talent, keeping a story rhyming and staying inside the same meter through 64 verses at a time takes more effort and willpower than mere talent. And I bet those creeps on TV who stole from me don't have any rhymes of their own because they're too lazy and spoiled.

I: The Fog

The war that held the nations in a general calamity
According to official records, modestly began at sea
A slender drop of tartar on a navigator's instrument
Induced an incident that would be lastingly significant

Away from safe and neutral waters for her taunting exercise
The vessel trespassed flagrantly as all onboard remained unwise
Where testing of new armaments to better to deploy know how
Provoked a hail of angry shots that sharply glanced across her bow

The consequential rupture through the highest power's corridor
Cost influential delegates their once precarious rapport
A trade agreement, months to mend, summarily was voted down
As seafood flew in hot exchange before the speaker's sternest frown

There hadn't been in ages a dispute sufficiently intense
For eagerest belligerents to test their limits of defence
Or for a young man restless in the stagnant atmosphere of peace
To have a chance to his disgruntlement against a foe release

The War Department, drawing on experiences of the past
Preferred a cautious strategy above the fury of the blast
The volatile voters were secure on the domestic front
For the initial ground campaign, the volunteers would bear the brunt

The Ministry of Propaganda's offices were set to swell
With new recruits impatient to engage their captivating spell
Instructions to the masses would arrive from them on channels wide
With memos of superiors to use as their unfailing guide

Investors scooped a windfall from the market's sudden closing turn
At least the ones who had a major stake in a defence concern
By gambling correctly on their government's combative stance
Their faith in a negotiated settlement stood not a chance

In short, the Tartar War was as ridiculous in proper name
As it would be for its commencement to on any culprit blame
A critical decision bowing to the pressures of the day
Of people in a looping chain where no one held the final say

II: The Pilot

For Captain Scott, familiarity with his patrol's routine
Assured him there was no assault he couldn't get away from clean
Until he dared to make a second pass at a forbidding base
Whose rocket stripped him of his plane to tumble in the clear blue space

The wisdom of his cozy school, he had occasion to refute
When well above the safety zone, he opened up his parachute
And let himself be swallowed in the vast and panoramic scope
Descending to the wild wood with bare survival as his hope

His landing by observers tracked, his apprehension was a breeze
To contemplate his coming horrors left him feeling ill at ease
From pushy escort, freedom shocked, with well aimed arrows incoming
Delivered by who called themselves the children of the burning spring

On disadvantage's behalf, it was their attribute to act
Inviting him to share the shelter of a hut from flora hacked
Their hieroglyphs depicted as an active torch the local peak
Apparently the exit of an incandescent vapour leak

The base commander thought the flame too much of an unwelcome draw
With hard cement he'd stemmed its hole and made its light against the law
And now with entrance to its perch by somber sentries strictly manned
A push to take it from the ground was sounder dreamed than could be planned

The rescued man indulged in the repose of his idyllic gains
Participating in the hunt and painting scenes with berry stains
The women were attracted to the stranger from the morning sky
And to engage his company were none of them the least bit shy

An airstrip added to the base brought powered flight within his range
His stealthy raid to steal a plane with tribal help was to arrange
They silently subdued the guards, attacking in the dead of night
Before the siren sounded, he was in a cockpit, taking flight

He pivoted to see that the remaining planes would grounded stay
Providing the accomplices the time to make a getaway
Then arching to the mountaintop, his payload would ignite the blaze
To draw the cheering of his friends and win from them their highest praise

III: The Spy

By embassy officials had Penelope been proudly bred
The same who put the calling of a spy in her attractive head
Recruiting her from childhood to eavesdrop on the guests who came
For tidbits of importance in negotiations' ruthless game

She had a gift for languages that made her the astutest bet
To infiltrate the enemy where access to their plans was let
Their own assessment would confirm her typing was impeccable
And rate her presentation as both polished and professional

They hired her to shuffle papers in the transportation corps
An area with less of what precisely she was looking for
Though movements could be analyzed to military targets glean
And her employer dining with a general, she'd plainly seen

To get him into bed with her where she could force his secrets out
Applying her seductive charm, she masterfully went about
The mailroom clerk found her request a difficult one to resist
And finally allowed her leave to scan the senders on her list

Her prying eye identified the only knowledge she could use
Discovering her boss's love for glossy shots of women's shoes
The magazine subscription struck the woman as peculiar
For he who had no partner he could lavish, in particular

The fetish had a deep effect upon the footwear that she chose
To wiggle for his warped delight, she shamelessly exposed her toes
But he seemed not to notice as he tended to affairs of state
Regardless of her podia, he would not ask her on a date

Her subtle passes having failed to magnetize his interest
Improperly atop her desk she lifted up her pumps to rest
The tactic proved successful by the invitation that she found
To meet inside his office after work with no one else around

The hour reached, she checked herself and moved in for the final kill
And found the mailroom clerk instead with drink her cast off shoe to fill
He'd buried his subscription in the catalogs of his employ
In order to conceal his shame, no matter how he'd spies annoy

IV: The Battle

The khakis thought their bold assault would take their aquas by surprise
With all they had in men and arms, the order came to mobilize
Their focus was a stretch of pasture pushing well inside their zone
Whose long abandoned soil had by choking weeds been overgrown

Their armoured column ground along with disconcerting steadiness
As fighters shot past overhead to demonstrate their readiness
Morale was high enough for marchers to pursue a lively hymn
And in their step to furnish an additional degree of vim

But their intention had been known in time for equal force to mass
Opposing them in aqua trenches straight before where they would pass
Who'd lined the road on either side with crushing cannons to discharge
As long the invading army wanted to remain at large

Allowed to push as far as to the gates outside their dreary claim
Belonging to an area that to their eyes looked all the same
They opted to retire to the comfort of the canvas tent
From many days of marching had their energy been greatly spent

The hopeful promise of the dusk to give an interval of sleep
By blazing guns along their flank, would prove impossible to keep
A whole division fell at once, who'd occupied their outer row
In flimsy structures there condemned to face the muzzles of their foe

Determined to their posture keep, the khakis to their camp were bound
Releasing planes to terminate the lethal presence on the ground
The fires from the payloads caused a cauldron of infernal heat
In this successful rescue from an unexpected snap defeat

At night, the fell hostilities converted to a gripping clash
As hand-to-hand the combat sank and through the ranks the shells would smash
Machine guns peppered out on angles bent to wreak a heavy toll
And flames engulfed the battlefield to make the demolition whole

By dawn, the sole survivor in the middle of a ghastly heap
To plant his flag of triumph in the blood soaked surface firm and deep
Would find it beneficial to have had a better sense of line
When his proud stabbing stake released the detonation of a mine

V: The Hate

The Ministry of Propaganda's pitch to sell a bloody war
Would emphasize the causes that the people thought worth fighting for
And where their proclamations wanted substance in reality
The gap was filled by repetitions, broadcast to banality

The propagandists knew their target did not march or hold a gun
But nonetheless by their bombardment could be driven on the run
The thing that so insidiously stood to their success negate
Was any love that would not yield to wartime's sweeping tide of hate

An artist with a piercing view his hand was given to uphold
Had found a modest corner where his outlook could the crowd behold
Believing it important to sustain the virtue of his side
With others who would grow until they spanned the nations far and wide

Unable to withhold his insight, graphic images he drew
Of ultimate futility and foes who suffered losses too
He found the overstatement of the enemy's exclusive blame
An insult to his wisdom and a source of patriotic shame

To minimize the menace of his surging popularity
His image was beset by the defacers at the ministry
They used his plain humility to say his voice was fit to shun
And to explain his poverty, a litany of lies were spun

Although this made the people shy to hold him up for broad acclaim
The source of their enlightenment for most of them remained the same
To thwart his work's proliferation, shortened did the hours grow
Which pressured his detractors to purloin his whole portfolio

His honesty as manifested in expressions that they took
Gave their corrupt dissemination the more veritable look
Consigning him to suffer the appearance of a filthy fraud
And fierce rejection from the many tricked to think his word was flawed

His shining view befit a shadow blanketing from coast to coast
His love more like an incantation able to subdue a host
The harm of their outrageous crime brought no guilt to the culprits' mind
Belief in their illusions to their wrongdoing had made them blind

VI: The Captives

As prisoners, the soldiers knew their loyalty was under threat
From punishing effects of the interrogations they would get
Though sworn to put the obligations of their cherished country first
They soon forgot their duty, once deprived of sleep and mad with thirst

To look upon and be reminded how much worse might be their lot
Hung poor McGregor's beaten form, exposed to sunlight burning hot
For his refusal to accept the terms of capture he'd been shown
Kept just alive enough for the capacity to wince and moan

Their camp hewn out of timbers offered nary an amenity
But living standards lowered to the point of inhumanity
Which made the prospect of employment at the harsh munitions plant
By contrast to alternatives, seem positively elegant

With heads averted to avoid the shame imposed by their brave mate
They shuffled past him, headed for relief beyond the wire gate
To diligently arm the menace to their land with deadly strength
Determined not contemplate their moral sturdiness at length

They'd have to take on slavery to get an ordinary meal
But unobstructed scenery allowed them to like free men feel
As they stretched out their stiffened legs and gulped the vitalizing air
Permitted to at least enjoy their passage through the thoroughfare

The ragged file disappeared inside the great facility
To each survive another day, assured of their ability
As friendly troops advanced to liberate the camp they left behind
Wherein McGregor was the only prisoner that they would find

From his condition they could tell that to his honour he'd been true
And asked him if the whereabouts of other prisoners he knew
Unable to reply with words, his index finger was unbent
To indicate the vague direction that his absent comrades went

Above them, on the line he showed, flew bombers on a dour pass
Against the largest maker of the enemy's most toxic gas
A distant blast begat a frown on he who'd chosen death to face
And of the ones who'd clung to life, adorned the final resting place

VII: The Profiteer

Protruding through the lapping waves to furnish a clandestine breach
The captain's trusty periscope confirmed the target was in reach
A convoy of disjointed freighters, chugging out to open sea
With foodstuffs and cosmetic goods, according to the registry

The captain was a peacetime merchant whose connections guaranteed
A share of profits for increasing areas of market need
By raising prices of the items that were smartly stowed away
His submarine was out to make the customers unfairly pay

Inside his blazer was a letter sealed with an exotic stamp
To let him know his son had been incarcerated in a camp
Relieved to know the war would end with his domestic life intact
To build a fortune for his happy homecoming he now could act

With speed enough to overtake the portly vessels from the back
He chose the nearest and began manoeuvering for an attack
With toothy swimming predators he was compelled to think alike
Engaging forward thrust until his ship was in the range to strike

Once bearings had been passed to guide the men on the torpedo bay
The captain's order came to fire on their unsuspecting prey
Again he checked his periscope to know the rightness of his aim
And smiled at the sight of a direct hit's swelling orange flame

A message came through on the set from uppermost authority
Which over current exercises strictly took authority
It told him that a freighter holding captives rather than supplies
Was passing through his sector and to not be fooled by this disguise

A panic overtook him as he pondered his potential loss
But of his situation he was still the undisputed boss
Commanding his compliant crew to surface and to pull astern
Of she which they had doomed, in order to her cargo's nature learn

The divers swept for scattered clues as flames expired undersea
Returning with the sole survivor of the morbid tragedy
His uniform's design and colour with their own appeared as one
But sadly he could only speak of bunking with their captain's son

(to be continued)

Monday, August 8, 2016

The Tartar War: Parts I-VI

I'm pretty sure I've outrhymed Doctor Seuss at this stage, but I haven't got a single profit to show from it. Maybe Doctor Seuss was a fraud like all the jerks on TV who stole my rhymes.

I: The Fog

The war that held the nations in a general calamity
According to official records, modestly began at sea
A slender drop of tartar on a navigator's instrument
Induced an incident that would be lastingly significant

Away from safe and neutral waters for her taunting exercise
The vessel trespassed flagrantly as all onboard remained unwise
Where testing of new armaments to better to deploy know how
Provoked a hail of angry shots that sharply glanced across her bow

The consequential rupture through the highest power's corridor
Cost influential delegates their once precarious rapport
A trade agreement, months to mend, summarily was voted down
As seafood flew in hot exchange before the speaker's sternest frown

There hadn't been in ages a dispute sufficiently intense
For eagerest belligerents to test their limits of defence
Or for a young man restless in the stagnant atmosphere of peace
To have a chance to his disgruntlement against a foe release

The War Department, drawing on experiences of the past
Preferred a cautious strategy above the fury of the blast
The volatile voters were secure on the domestic front
For the initial ground campaign, the volunteers would bear the brunt

The Ministry of Propaganda's offices were set to swell
With new recruits impatient to engage their captivating spell
Instructions to the masses would arrive from them on channels wide
With memos of superiors to use as their unfailing guide

Investors scooped a windfall from the market's sudden closing turn
At least the ones who had a major stake in a defence concern
By gambling correctly on their government's combative stance
Their faith in a negotiated settlement stood not a chance

In short, the Tartar War was as ridiculous in proper name
As it would be for its commencement to on any culprit blame
A critical decision bowing to the pressures of the day
Of people in a looping chain where no one held the final say

II: The Pilot

For Captain Scott, familiarity with his patrol's routine
Assured him there was no assault he couldn't get away from clean
Until he dared to make a second pass at a forbidding base
Whose rocket stripped him of his plane to tumble in the clear blue space

The wisdom of his cozy school, he had occasion to refute
When well above the safety zone, he opened up his parachute
And let himself be swallowed in the vast and panoramic scope
Descending to the wild wood with bare survival as his hope

His landing by observers tracked, his apprehension was a breeze
To contemplate his coming horrors left him feeling ill at ease
From pushy escort, freedom shocked, with well aimed arrows incoming
Delivered by who called themselves the children of the burning spring

On disadvantage's behalf, it was their attribute to act
Inviting him to share the shelter of a hut from flora hacked
Their hieroglyphs depicted as an active torch the local peak
Apparently the exit of an incandescent vapour leak

The base commander thought the flame too much of an unwelcome draw
With hard cement he'd stemmed its hole and made its light against the law
And now with entrance to its perch by somber sentries strictly manned
A push to take it from the ground was sounder dreamed than could be planned

The rescued man indulged in the repose of his idyllic gains
Participating in the hunt and painting scenes with berry stains
The women were attracted to the stranger from the morning sky
And to engage his company were none of them the least bit shy

An airstrip added to the base brought powered flight within his range
His stealthy raid to steal a plane with tribal help was to arrange
They silently subdued the guards, attacking in the dead of night
Before the siren sounded, he was in a cockpit, taking flight

He pivoted to see that the remaining planes would grounded stay
Providing the accomplices the time to make a getaway
Then arching to the mountaintop, his payload would ignite the blaze
To draw the cheering of his friends and win from them their highest praise

III: The Spy

By embassy officials had Penelope been proudly bred
The same who put the calling of a spy in her attractive head
Recruiting her from childhood to eavesdrop on the guests who came
For tidbits of importance in negotiations' ruthless game

She had a gift for languages that made her the astutest bet
To infiltrate the enemy where access to their plans was let
Their own assessment would confirm her typing was impeccable
And rate her presentation as both polished and professional

They hired her to shuffle papers in the transportation corps
An area with less of what precisely she was looking for
Though movements could be analyzed to military targets glean
And her employer dining with a general, she'd plainly seen

To get him into bed with her where she could force his secrets out
Applying her seductive charm, she masterfully went about
The mailroom clerk found her request a difficult one to resist
And finally allowed her leave to scan the senders on her list

Her prying eye identified the only knowledge she could use
Discovering her boss's love for glossy shots of women's shoes
The magazine subscription struck the woman as peculiar
For he who had no partner he could lavish, in particular

The fetish had a deep effect upon the footwear that she chose
To wiggle for his warped delight, she shamelessly exposed her toes
But he seemed not to notice as he tended to affairs of state
Regardless of her podia, he would not ask her on a date

Her subtle passes having failed to magnetize his interest
Improperly atop her desk she lifted up her pumps to rest
The tactic proved successful by the invitation that she found
To meet inside his office after work with no one else around

The hour reached, she checked herself and moved in for the final kill
And found the mailroom clerk instead with drink her cast off shoe to fill
He'd buried his subscription in the catalogs of his employ
In order to conceal his shame, no matter how he'd spies annoy

IV: The Battle

The khakis thought their bold assault would take their aquas by surprise
With all they had in men and arms, the order came to mobilize
Their focus was a stretch of pasture pushing well inside their zone
Whose long abandoned soil had by choking weeds been overgrown

Their armoured column ground along with disconcerting steadiness
As fighters shot past overhead to demonstrate their readiness
Morale was high enough for marchers to pursue a lively hymn
And in their step to furnish an additional degree of vim

But their intention had been known in time for equal force to mass
Opposing them in aqua trenches straight before where they would pass
Who'd lined the road on either side with crushing cannons to discharge
As long the invading army wanted to remain at large

Allowed to push as far as to the gates outside their dreary claim
Belonging to an area that to their eyes looked all the same
They opted to retire to the comfort of the canvas tent
From many days of marching had their energy been greatly spent

The hopeful promise of the dusk to give an interval of sleep
By blazing guns along their flank, would prove impossible to keep
A whole division fell at once, who'd occupied their outer row
In flimsy structures there condemned to face the muzzles of their foe

Determined to their posture keep, the khakis to their camp were bound
Releasing planes to terminate the lethal presence on the ground
The fires from the payloads caused a cauldron of infernal heat
In this successful rescue from an unexpected snap defeat

At night, the fell hostilities converted to a gripping clash
As hand-to-hand the combat sank and through the ranks the shells would smash
Machine guns peppered out on angles bent to wreak a heavy toll
And flames engulfed the battlefield to make the demolition whole

By dawn, the sole survivor in the middle of a ghastly heap
To plant his flag of triumph in the blood soaked surface firm and deep
Would find it beneficial to have had a better sense of line
When his proud stabbing stake released the detonation of a mine

V: The Hate

The Ministry of Propaganda's pitch to sell a bloody war
Would emphasize the causes that the people thought worth fighting for
And where their proclamations wanted substance in reality
The gap was filled by repetitions, broadcast to banality

The propagandists knew their target did not march or hold a gun
But nonetheless by their bombardment could be driven on the run
The thing that so insidiously stood to their success negate
Was any love that would not yield to wartime's sweeping tide of hate

An artist with a piercing view his hand was given to uphold
Had found a modest corner where his outlook could the crowd behold
Believing it important to sustain the virtue of his side
With others who would grow until they spanned the nations far and wide

Unable to withhold his insight, graphic images he drew
Of ultimate futility and foes who suffered losses too
He found the overstatement of the enemy's exclusive blame
An insult to his wisdom and a source of patriotic shame

To minimize the menace of his surging popularity
His image was beset by the defacers at the ministry
They used his plain humility to say his voice was fit to shun
And to explain his poverty, a litany of lies were spun

Although this made the people shy to hold him up for broad acclaim
The source of their enlightenment for most of them remained the same
To thwart his work's proliferation, shortened did the hours grow
Which pressured his detractors to purloin his whole portfolio

His honesty as manifested in expressions that they took
Gave their corrupt dissemination the more veritable look
Consigning him to suffer the appearance of a filthy fraud
And fierce rejection from the many tricked to think his word was flawed

His shining view befit a shadow blanketing from coast to coast
His love more like an incantation able to subdue a host
The harm of their outrageous crime brought no guilt to the culprits' mind
Belief in their illusions to their wrongdoing had made them blind

VI: The Captives

As prisoners, the soldiers knew their loyalty was under threat
From punishing effects of the interrogations they would get
Though sworn to put the obligations of their cherished country first
They soon forgot their duty, once deprived of sleep and mad with thirst

To look upon and be reminded how much worse might be their lot
Hung poor McGregor's beaten form, exposed to sunlight burning hot
For his refusal to accept the terms of capture he'd been shown
Kept just alive enough for the capacity to wince and moan

Their camp hewn out of timbers offered nary an amenity
But living standards lowered to the point of inhumanity
Which made the prospect of employment at the harsh munitions plant
By contrast to alternatives, seem positively elegant

With heads averted to avoid the shame imposed by their brave mate
They shuffled past him, headed for relief beyond the wire gate
To diligently arm the menace to their land with deadly strength
Determined not contemplate their moral sturdiness at length

They'd have to take on slavery to get an ordinary meal
But unobstructed scenery allowed them to like free men feel
As they stretched out their stiffened legs and gulped the vitalizing air
Permitted to at least enjoy their passage through the thoroughfare

The ragged file disappeared inside the great facility
To each survive another day, assured of their ability
As friendly troops advanced to liberate the camp they left behind
Wherein McGregor was the only prisoner that they would find

From his condition they could tell that to his honour he'd been true
And asked him if the whereabouts of other prisoners he knew
Unable to reply with words, his index finger was unbent
To indicate the vague direction that his absent comrades went

Above them, on the line he showed, flew bombers on a dour pass
Against the largest maker of the enemy's most toxic gas
A distant blast begat a frown on he who'd chosen death to face
And of the ones who'd clung to life, adorned the final resting place

(to be continued)

Sunday, August 7, 2016

The Tartar War: Parts I-V

They must have hated Part V when I first shared it in 2007, during George W. Bush's War on Terror, because Part V has so much truth in it. Its last line is ominously familiar from my past. By the way, please don't invade North Korea without consent from China and Russia. On another note, the bassist from my old band came up with the name Foothead. I just liked its humour.

I: The Fog

The war that held the nations in a general calamity
According to official records, modestly began at sea
A slender drop of tartar on a navigator's instrument
Induced an incident that would be lastingly significant

Away from safe and neutral waters for her taunting exercise
The vessel trespassed flagrantly as all onboard remained unwise
Where testing of new armaments to better to deploy know how
Provoked a hail of angry shots that sharply glanced across her bow

The consequential rupture through the highest power's corridor
Cost influential delegates their once precarious rapport
A trade agreement, months to mend, summarily was voted down
As seafood flew in hot exchange before the speaker's sternest frown

There hadn't been in ages a dispute sufficiently intense
For eagerest belligerents to test their limits of defence
Or for a young man restless in the stagnant atmosphere of peace
To have a chance to his disgruntlement against a foe release

The War Department, drawing on experiences of the past
Preferred a cautious strategy above the fury of the blast
The volatile voters were secure on the domestic front
For the initial ground campaign, the volunteers would bear the brunt

The Ministry of Propaganda's offices were set to swell
With new recruits impatient to engage their captivating spell
Instructions to the masses would arrive from them on channels wide
With memos of superiors to use as their unfailing guide

Investors scooped a windfall from the market's sudden closing turn
At least the ones who had a major stake in a defence concern
By gambling correctly on their government's combative stance
Their faith in a negotiated settlement stood not a chance

In short, the Tartar War was as ridiculous in proper name
As it would be for its commencement to on any culprit blame
A critical decision bowing to the pressures of the day
Of people in a looping chain where no one held the final say

II: The Pilot

For Captain Scott, familiarity with his patrol's routine
Assured him there was no assault he couldn't get away from clean
Until he dared to make a second pass at a forbidding base
Whose rocket stripped him of his plane to tumble in the clear blue space

The wisdom of his cozy school, he had occasion to refute
When well above the safety zone, he opened up his parachute
And let himself be swallowed in the vast and panoramic scope
Descending to the wild wood with bare survival as his hope

His landing by observers tracked, his apprehension was a breeze
To contemplate his coming horrors left him feeling ill at ease
From pushy escort, freedom shocked, with well aimed arrows incoming
Delivered by who called themselves the children of the burning spring

On disadvantage's behalf, it was their attribute to act
Inviting him to share the shelter of a hut from flora hacked
Their hieroglyphs depicted as an active torch the local peak
Apparently the exit of an incandescent vapour leak

The base commander thought the flame too much of an unwelcome draw
With hard cement he'd stemmed its hole and made its light against the law
And now with entrance to its perch by somber sentries strictly manned
A push to take it from the ground was sounder dreamed than could be planned

The rescued man indulged in the repose of his idyllic gains
Participating in the hunt and painting scenes with berry stains
The women were attracted to the stranger from the morning sky
And to engage his company were none of them the least bit shy

An airstrip added to the base brought powered flight within his range
His stealthy raid to steal a plane with tribal help was to arrange
They silently subdued the guards, attacking in the dead of night
Before the siren sounded, he was in a cockpit, taking flight

He pivoted to see that the remaining planes would grounded stay
Providing the accomplices the time to make a getaway
Then arching to the mountaintop, his payload would ignite the blaze
To draw the cheering of his friends and win from them their highest praise

III: The Spy

By embassy officials had Penelope been proudly bred
The same who put the calling of a spy in her attractive head
Recruiting her from childhood to eavesdrop on the guests who came
For tidbits of importance in negotiations' ruthless game

She had a gift for languages that made her the astutest bet
To infiltrate the enemy where access to their plans was let
Their own assessment would confirm her typing was impeccable
And rate her presentation as both polished and professional

They hired her to shuffle papers in the transportation corps
An area with less of what precisely she was looking for
Though movements could be analyzed to military targets glean
And her employer dining with a general, she'd plainly seen

To get him into bed with her where she could force his secrets out
Applying her seductive charm, she masterfully went about
The mailroom clerk found her request a difficult one to resist
And finally allowed her leave to scan the senders on her list

Her prying eye identified the only knowledge she could use
Discovering her boss's love for glossy shots of women's shoes
The magazine subscription struck the woman as peculiar
For he who had no partner he could lavish, in particular

The fetish had a deep effect upon the footwear that she chose
To wiggle for his warped delight, she shamelessly exposed her toes
But he seemed not to notice as he tended to affairs of state
Regardless of her podia, he would not ask her on a date

Her subtle passes having failed to magnetize his interest
Improperly atop her desk she lifted up her pumps to rest
The tactic proved successful by the invitation that she found
To meet inside his office after work with no one else around

The hour reached, she checked herself and moved in for the final kill
And found the mailroom clerk instead with drink her cast off shoe to fill
He'd buried his subscription in the catalogs of his employ
In order to conceal his shame, no matter how he'd spies annoy

IV: The Battle

The khakis thought their bold assault would take their aquas by surprise
With all they had in men and arms, the order came to mobilize
Their focus was a stretch of pasture pushing well inside their zone
Whose long abandoned soil had by choking weeds been overgrown

Their armoured column ground along with disconcerting steadiness
As fighters shot past overhead to demonstrate their readiness
Morale was high enough for marchers to pursue a lively hymn
And in their step to furnish an additional degree of vim

But their intention had been known in time for equal force to mass
Opposing them in aqua trenches straight before where they would pass
Who'd lined the road on either side with crushing cannons to discharge
As long the invading army wanted to remain at large

Allowed to push as far as to the gates outside their dreary claim
Belonging to an area that to their eyes looked all the same
They opted to retire to the comfort of the canvas tent
From many days of marching had their energy been greatly spent

The hopeful promise of the dusk to give an interval of sleep
By blazing guns along their flank, would prove impossible to keep
A whole division fell at once, who'd occupied their outer row
In flimsy structures there condemned to face the muzzles of their foe

Determined to their posture keep, the khakis to their camp were bound
Releasing planes to terminate the lethal presence on the ground
The fires from the payloads caused a cauldron of infernal heat
In this successful rescue from an unexpected snap defeat

At night, the fell hostilities converted to a gripping clash
As hand-to-hand the combat sank and through the ranks the shells would smash
Machine guns peppered out on angles bent to wreak a heavy toll
And flames engulfed the battlefield to make the demolition whole

By dawn, the sole survivor in the middle of a ghastly heap
To plant his flag of triumph in the blood soaked surface firm and deep
Would find it beneficial to have had a better sense of line
When his proud stabbing stake released the detonation of a mine

V: The Hate

The Ministry of Propaganda's pitch to sell a bloody war
Would emphasize the causes that the people thought worth fighting for
And where their proclamations wanted substance in reality
The gap was filled by repetitions, broadcast to banality

The propagandists knew their target did not march or hold a gun
But nonetheless by their bombardment could be driven on the run
The thing that so insidiously stood to their success negate
Was any love that would not yield to wartime's sweeping tide of hate

An artist with a piercing view his hand was given to uphold
Had found a modest corner where his outlook could the crowd behold
Believing it important to sustain the virtue of his side
With others who would grow until they spanned the nations far and wide

Unable to withhold his insight, graphic images he drew
Of ultimate futility and foes who suffered losses too
He found the overstatement of the enemy's exclusive blame
An insult to his wisdom and a source of patriotic shame

To minimize the menace of his surging popularity
His image was beset by the defacers at the ministry
They used his plain humility to say his voice was fit to shun
And to explain his poverty, a litany of lies were spun

Although this made the people shy to hold him up for broad acclaim
The source of their enlightenment for most of them remained the same
To thwart his work's proliferation, shortened did the hours grow
Which pressured his detractors to purloin his whole portfolio

His honesty as manifested in expressions that they took
Gave their corrupt dissemination the more veritable look
Consigning him to suffer the appearance of a filthy fraud
And fierce rejection from the many tricked to think his word was flawed

His shining view befit a shadow blanketing from coast to coast
His love more like an incantation able to subdue a host
The harm of their outrageous crime brought no guilt to the culprits' mind
Belief in their illusions to their wrongdoing had made them blind

(to be continued)