Song of the Powers by David Mason

This poem is really a nice, dark twist on the child's game rock, paper, scissors. It clearly speaks of destruction and how futile violence truly is. We discussed this poem in class and I brought up this idea, which might be completely off. I think the rock might be symbolic of the government, the paper of religion, and the scissors of military. Each generally conflicts with the other and no one can stand alone. His structure is really interesting- he begins with three sestets describing the rock, paper, and scissors. He then concludes with a final stanza that breaks that form. His last words are really interesting:

"As the stone crushes scissors,
as paper snuffs stone
and scissors cut paper,
all end alone.
So heap up your paper
and scissors your wishes
and uproot the stone
from the top of the hill.
They all end alone.
As you will, you will."

All three have a viscous cycle of destruction- the battle between religion and government, conflicting with the military. This poem really has a dark tone, almost mid-evil even. It's really interesting, and actually pretty depressing.