A Thinker

I guess the title of this post applies just as much to the poet as it does to the poem. Usually, I caution students to shy away from abstract language in their poems, but in this case, I think it's the rhythm and juxtaposition of the words, even abstract ones, that begs the reader to think deeply about war. The repetition of the word "never" especially interests me. It also feels like war could even be a metaphor for internal conflicts, the "battles" we all face that no one sees. Way to go, Max!

War

Inevitably yet unnecessarily occurring,
During the darkest moments of humanity.
Penetrating the holes of men’s soul.
Twisting, perverting, corrupting the mind,
Devoid of all thoughts, emotions, and ideals
Dissipating into a holy mist.
Leaving only a shell lustful for another to fill it
If only to fill the awful void.
Devastatingly ripping apart the mind,
Shred by hateful shred,
Only adding depth to the void’s control.
All of the will power of the mind,
All of the passion of the heart,
Seem enough to resist
Only until one has fallen.
Unfurling the heart,
Turning a man on which he once loved.
Giving in to the passions of lust and strife
Ever corrupting a man as he falls,
Falling deeper and deeper into the darkness of the void.
Deeper and deeper the corruption goes
When the mind final feels its presence,
One’s will to resist is only a faint wisp of smoke.
No man a stranger, no man immune,
The pull works on all through its corrosive ways.
No man’s soul is without holes,
Unreachable by the dark corruptive force.
It calls to every man in a way all the same,
Promising to give a man his wildest dreams.
A man will only resist for so long,
Until the price is too much.
A man can never entirely resist the darkness’s pull.
Never is a man allowed to resist
The power of the darkness’s evil
Never does a man have the power to resist,
Or the hope to resist,
They always fall, every time.
The darkness can always pull on men,
But the darkness has no pull on never,
For never, never is
Never ebbs and flows, pulling away from man.
Many a man dreams of never,
Maybe even spends a lifetime searching for never,
But will never find it.
Peace is only accepted never
Never is not today, but only war.