Poem: "the war engine"
This poem came out of the July 3, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from siege, along with my_partner_doug's love of wargames and how they can teach better strategy. It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. While writing it, I researched the Edo period, Hasekura Tsunenaga, and Tokugawa Ieyesu. The verses are haiku. This poem is Edopunk belonging to the Lacquerware series; you can read more about that on the Serial Poetry page.
the war engine
the first war engine
was a lacquerware table
topped by clay soldiers
they marched on a map
by the officers' commands,
move and countermove
the war engine knew
all that the generals told,
but thought much faster
with this, all could be
predicted and prepared for,
and the best plans used
soon Ieyesu
sent forth his mighty army
well-armed with intel
his crack troops conquered
even the western daimyo,
uniting Japan
more confident now,
he turned to Hasekura
and said, "Go, sail forth."
of his engineers,
he asked a war engine with
maps of the oceans