Today’s prompt was to write a poem based on one of several bizarre names of spaceships from a certain authors books. I chose one that sounded cool, and decided to write a sci-fi poem. Enjoy!
Gunboat Diplomat
By Nathan Marchand
Come! And a tale you’ll hear
Of how the Second Great War ended
Thanks to a man the galaxy came to revere:
Henry Hawk, a scalawag to be commended.
Terrans and Zillans battled across the stars,
For reasons long forgotten, so do not ask why.
But the Terrans saw their planet covered with scars,
So they summoned Hawk, and to Zilla he did fly.
His ship, the Shrewd Serpent, was a rickety relic.
A starfaring gunboat that survived the First Great War,
And the perfect vessel for this snarky maverick
Who once served as a diplomat for the Terran AstroCorps.
Suddenly his ship decloaked in orbit of the Zillans’ homeworld,
And the lizards’ warships scrambled to intercept.
But Hawk, ever confident, never felt imperiled.
He opened a channel and gave the lizards a smile they couldn’t accept.
“The Terrans are tired of war,” says Hawk.
“I come to give you their offer of peace.
Their terms are fair, so you will not mock,
Though you glory in battle and will not cease.”
The lizard-king replied, “Slyth the war god demands victory!
For our enemies’ heads, he gives us his blood, redrock,
Which has powered our ships throughout our history.
So spare us your pathetic words, Hawk!”
So Hawk smirked, and with but a gesture,
The Serpent’s hidden guns opened fire,
Raining missiles on the Zillans’ redrock treasure,
And in seconds all that was left was a ring of hellfire.
Hawk says, “Your world will die if you continue to fight.
So before the Terran fleet comes, this war must end.
For without your ‘god’s’ blood, the Terrans won’t fear your might.
And you will have a legion of angry enemies with which to contend.”
So the lizard-king ended the war by declaring a truce,
And the Terran soldiers returned home to celebrate.
Though the Zillans demanded to see Hawk at the end of a noose,
They, like many others, learned he was a man not to underestimate.
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