Mars raged across the battlefield, killing Achaeans with abandon, until Minerva and her inspired Diomedes struck and drove him from the field. War, all too often, is the reverse. The allies of the Second World War strategically fought to resist Nazi and Fascist aggression. The last principal ally to join the fray, however, ended it in twin acts of nuclear assault against civilians. Somehow, the wisdom in war devolves into the bloodlust of mass-murder.
Perhaps that’s why Mars as colony-turned-independent rival of Earth has become a motif of so much modern science fiction. The Expanse novels and television series features a tech-savy Mars competing for stellar dominance against a united Earth, until war erupts between the super powers. Years before, the series Babylon 5 addressed a colonial Mars launching its own war for independence from Earth.
Whether red-faced God or planet, we can’t escape the rage and shame that drive us toward that genocidal escalation of violence: one no generation has ever escaped. Mars is the mirror of our own warfaring hearts. We have seen the enemy, and we are it.
dust
the last remnant
of dreams
I’m hosting Haibun Monday today over at dVerse Poets Pub. We’re writing about Mars. The Pub is open! Come join us!
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Blunt and powerful haibun, Frank.
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…but in the end, love and goodness must triumph over hate and evil.
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Mirror mirror on the wall. A powerful haibun Frank. Thanks for dropping by to read mine
Much✏love
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Wow! you really zeroed in on the cause and effects of war. It really does begin within each of our hearts! A great Haibun, Frank.
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Strong stuff, Frank. Your last line of prose is killer. Your “haiku” works well, but in my mind, I changed the first line to “red dust”.
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I like the way you built the contrast of the red-faced rage of mythological war, Frank, and the coldness and distance of modern warfare. I agree with you about the wisdom in war devolving into the bloodlust of mass-murder. The link to Mars is fascinating. The haiku sums it up perfectly with Glenn’s addition,.
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Woah. Woah. Hear! Hear! Those last two lines are so powerful! “Mars is the mirror of our own warfaring hearts. We have seen the enemy, and we are it.”
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You start with a broad brush, painting a big picture and pare it all away to those last words of the haiku. Chilling.
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Powerful haibun, Frank! Your last two lines are brilliant.
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I think in every way we imagine it the martian are just mirrors of ourselves. In the end, it’s always about war…
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Great haibun. Loved the haiku. I cut my SF teeth on Martian sci fi – brought it all back. Very interesting way of pointing out that revolutions never change anything- always becoming the very thing they never wanted to be and fought to change.
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If we haven’t seen the enemy, it’s time to look in the mirror. Powerful haibun,
Frank.
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