Retired General's 'Exquisite' Weapons
(in a "Non-Standard" 14-line Sonnet style)
ABABAB CDCDCD EE

Oblivion. Eternity. Forever.
All time and space that somehow, some way could
produce a thing “alive”, supremely clever
at hanging on, once started, “bad” or “good,”
unwilling to accept the concept “never”,
“evolving” first from “cell” to “plant” (like wood)
then “animal” (sea, air, and land), the “thinking”
unconsciousness, one not yet self-aware.
Next comes a rude intelligence unblinking,
inventing tools and power, these to share
with others, this cooperation linking
“societies” together; or to dare
developing new weapons, fear and doubt:
imagining more ways to snuff Life out.

We’ve “weaponized” Love, Language, Faith and Peace,
books, pen and paper, Internet, and such.
What else can we pervert? Whom else to fleece?
What haven’t we exhausted? Not too much.
Once we begin a war we seldom cease,
but double down on Dumb, no brake or clutch.
No U. S. President wants to be “first”
To “lose” a war -- like those who’ve lost before.
Those seeking power manifest a thirst
above which no mundane desire can soar
The Power Over Others has them cursed
and leaves them facing choices they abhor:
like He that will not cut and run and who
now finds that he’s lost not one war but two.