I. The Eagle
Across the seas the Eagle wakes,
his talons sunk in ancient stakes;
he forged the laws, he drew the charts,
he crowned an age of markets’ arts.
Yet now he walks the marble floor,
counting ships off distant shore;
for every oath his banners swore
demands a war he can’t ignore.
He built the hall where rules were signed
yet whispers stir the builder’s mind:
How many fires can one hand tame
before the wind forgets his name?
II. The Dragon
The Dragon waits in patient grace,
a thousand winters in his face;
he studies tides and merchant lanes
while others squander borrowed gains.
An island gleams beyond the foam
a rebel jewel once called his own;
its silicon, a humming trade,
the hinge on which empires are made.
“Time,” he murmurs, slow and cold,
“will bend the proud and break the old.”
Yet even dragons rarely told
how quickly sleeping storms unfold.
III. The Bear
The Bear moves slow through iron snow,
remembering wars of long ago;
his forests dark, his temper late,
his patience carved in frost and fate.
Across the plains old echoes ring
lost dominions, fallen kings;
the borders shift like drifting white
along the edge of Europe’s night.
Press a bear too near his den
and winter learns the rage of men.
IV. The Crescent
Beneath a sky of burning brass
old deserts watch the tankers pass;
the Crescent dreams of vanished thrones
and caravans through empire bones.
Across the straits small embers flare
a proxy spark in midnight air;
a whispered vow, a hidden flame,
the patient grammar war became.
Empires rise and empires flee
but deserts keep their memory.
V. The Monsoon Divide
Where Himalaya crowns the sky
two restless nations eye to eye;
their rivers roar through scarred terrain
where maps were carved in haste and pain.
The Tiger wakes with rising might,
his markets blazing into light;
the Falcon waits behind the wire,
a watchful shadow edged with fire.
One shell misplaced, one convoy lost ....
then glaciers count the dreadful cost.
For here beneath the mountain sun
two atom hearts beat close to one.
VI. The Peninsula
Between two seas a border lies
where winter stares through mirrored eyes;
a wire, a wall, a silent score
the remnant of unfinished war.
The North keeps watch through iron night,
its rockets poised for sudden flight;
the South builds towers bright and tall
yet hears the ancient bugle call.
Two brothers split by history’s blade
still stand within the same parade.
VII. The Crowded Sea
Where coral sleeps in turquoise deep
a hundred silent warships creep;
for reefs once known to birds alone
now bear the runways carved in stone.
Fishermen steer through steel and wake
while captains watch each turn they make;
a warning flare, some shouted codes
and suddenly the calm explodes.
For oceans once both wide and free
are now a crowded chessboard sea.
VIII. The Quiet World
Meanwhile the markets hum along,
the evening news performs its song;
the cafés laugh, the traders grin,
the satellites keep watch within.
The children run through summer air
untroubled by the gambler’s snare
for history whispers soft and far
until it wears an ugly scar.
IX. The Ledger of Kings
So stand the powers, proud and vast:
the Eagle, Dragon, Bear at last;
the Crescent’s fire, the Monsoon plain,
the island seas, the northern chain.
Each watches each with measured breath
and writes its calculus of death;
yet none desires the final call
though pride still towers over all.
X. The Braided Fuse
Not one fuse burns alone tonight
each spark reflects another’s light;
the wires run through every throne
until no war remains its own.
For pride is tinder, fear the flame,
and chance the match without a name;
a radar blink, a signal lost
and continents may count the cost.
So here we stand in polished peace,
believing reason grants release;
yet quietly beneath the news
the world…
is braided
like a fuse.
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16 March 2026