Seeing Soviet Flagged Battle Ships Poem by Gert Strydom

Seeing Soviet flagged battle ships,
some submarines surfaced
etched against a enemy harbour,
while on a sabotage mission
lulling up and down,
rocked by waves
in a rubber dingy
with a city skyline
dotted with sparkling lights
it comes to me
that man's weapons of war
are developing into gigantic things
which dwarf human beings.

Still the sword as a timed limpet mine,
submarine, warship, aircraft carrier
and nuclear weapon
receives a whiplash harangue
from the pen, typewriter or computer
from which words flow
as a recording witness,
a spotlight on the facts,
a persuader to action
and a weapon of greater devastation.

© Gert Strydom