Silent Sentinels

Microscopic horrors seem to lurk in the deepest, darkest corners...

Author's Note

The use of biological agents is almost as old as organized warfare itself. One of the earliest uses of biological weapons occurred in the 6th century BC when the Assyrians poisoned enemy wells with rye ergot. Ergot is a parasitic fungus that produces hallucinations and a narrowing of the blood vessels which can lead to the development of gangrene in the extremities.

In 1422, at the battle of Karlstejn, the invading Lithuanians led by Coribut threw the bodies of plague-stricken soldiers, dead cows and 2000 cartloads of excrement into the ranks of enemy troops. In 1485 the Spanish supplied their French enemies near Naples with wine laced with blood from lepers.

During the American Civil War, Dr. Luke Blackburn, the future governor of Kentucky, attempted to infect clothing with smallpox and yellow fever which he then sold to Union troops. General Johnson, retreating through Mississippi with the Confederates in 1863, tried to poison water supplies by dumping dead animals into the wells and ponds that they passed. The same year, U.S. Army General Order No. 100 stated that "The use of poison in any manner, be it to poison wells, or food, or arms, is wholly excluded from modern warfare."

In 1978, a Bulgarian exile named Georgi Markov was waiting at a bus stop in London, England when he felt a sharp pain in the calf of his leg. Someone had scratched him with the end of what appeared to be an umbrella. Several days later he died. A tiny pellet extracted from his body was found to have been deliberately filled with ricin. It later emerged that the Bulgarian government, using Soviet supplied technology, had assassinated him.

Today, there are untold horrors being manufactured in labs all across the globe, waiting to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting enemy or population.

We've all heard of the incidents happening in Syria, Uganda, and elsewhere in the world.

Who will be next? Could it be us...could it, perhaps, be you?

Reviews

[gabrielle]

Very chilling and haunting narration. Our insecurities and greed would eventually cause the downfall of mankind. The incident in Syria was beyond horrible..

[PloughBoy]

Thank you very much for having a go at this one, gabrielle. And you're absolutely right, what happened in Syria was unimaginable.

I sincerely appreciate your thoughtful review.

[olla]

I was.. affected.. by the poem.. but your author's note was equally affecting.. we like to take a moral high ground.. but there really is no such thing.. I have lost good friends to agent orange..

[PloughBoy]

You're absolutely right, olla, we certainly do. I lost a dear uncle, a very brave and courageous man who fought in Vietnam, to the after affects of Agent Orange as well. It was not a pretty think to witness.

I truly appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me on this one, as it is a very personal subject for me.

[D. M. Anderson]

Find some way to put this to music. Something crashing, metallic, and industrial. It played out that way in my mind while I read it. No complaints.

[PloughBoy]

Thanks, DM, and it is funny that you should mention that because I did have a musical accompaniment with this poem at one time. But after a couple of complaints, I axed it. Perhaps, based on your review, I'll reconsider re-adding it to the mix.

Thank you for your constructive feedback. I truly appreciate it.

[PloughBoy]

Music re-added, just for you, D. M. Anderson... The critics be damned, 'ey? LOL...

[D. M. Anderson]

You rebel, you! Lol

[PloughBoy]

Heh-heh...