The Shift [Sun Tzu – #4-1] (Judges chapter 7)

A shift takes place no matter how prepared
A country is to forward move, and fare
Quite well – offense or defense matters not;
A shift takes place when using what you’ve got.

’Till then, preparedness, is all that counts –
The folks in charge stockpile in some amount
What they might need to meet contingency;
But now it’s war, and task they plainly see.

For King, or sovereign, Lord, civilian folks,
Those ruling speak – command, “Take up your yokes,
For task ahead is not collecting tools,
But using them – shift now, do not be fools”.

The General, commander of the force,
The head of army, has now no recourse
But to step up to challenge that is near,
And do his job – no time in him for fear.

Commands received, these orders are obeyed;
The shift takes place and preps come into play;
One man said Yanks did not this shift perform
With Vietnam, so prepping was the norm.

The troops for army, summoned, he unites;
He blends, and harmonizes battle ranks;
Assembled, he encamps, sets up his base;
Collecting parts, assigns to rightful place.

The shift is hard, from preps to action’s day,
For combat’s tough – avoid if there’s a way;
The shift is inner first, for all concerned;
It’s tough to implement the things one’s learned.

The part that’s tough? Shift that’s both in and out
For call to arms means both, without a doubt;
The drills, and skills, and peace-time polished shoes,
Give way to boots – destruction’s win or lose.

Lord, I reflect on Waterloo this year;
That book with detail grim made one thing clear –
This book on war by Sun Tzu up to here,
Is well and good, but now destruction’s near –

A three-square mile of bodies ripped apart,
Some several deep, then stripped by night for parts;
For years the “Waterloo teeth” were the thing
Civilians used – depicts what battle brings.

Eight days the pyres burned up enlisted dead –
Used wood to start then human flesh had fed
The flames – the officers all were interred,
Or taken home – all rank’s in death absurd.

Lord, at this time I sense a shift in me,
From preps to war, now Kingdom layer’s seen;
I sense reluctance, just as Sun Tzu said
Is always there – from comfort’s soft, warm, bed.

Thanks Lord for this.

navigation