Hostile Soil (Deathworld Book Spoilers)

[**Contains significant spoilers for the first book in the Deathworld series by Harry Harrison**] Pyrrus breathes with a taste of death A planet where every lifeform kills Claws and thorns can tear through solid walls All predators but also prey A gambler touches down from a distant star Jason with his psionic mind Could offer them much more Jason steps through a torn city of steel Guns hum low The air thick with threat He holds the rare ability To read the jungle planet's wrath He dodges strikes from a powerful beast Using his gift he bends chance to his will The Pyrrans watch in disbelief An outsider daring their world’s cruel game Pyrrus slays A world of death and desire Humans stand Defiant in the chaos Life’s cost paid With blood and steel This is the way of the Deathworld Oh Deathworld Pyrrans defend In armor worn from many years Trained to kill since their first dawn Their city holds against a planet’s rage Walls built high yet never safe from natures will They see Jason A soft-world stranger His words of peace both amuse and anger Their lives know only war’s harsh rhythm Each minute a fight To stay alive Jason is in tune with the planet’s secret pulse A psychic loop linking hate to all life Pyrrans’ anger fuels the world’s attack A cycle born from minds too fierce Jason's intellect probes deeper His thoughts create a bridge Sensing life that yearns for calm He speaks to lead them past their rage A new way To break the planet’s hold Pyrrans fight Yet hold the key to peace Humans stand With a choice to mend To create a calm Where none has ever been This is the way of the Deathworld Oh Deathworld Pyrrans glare With fists clenched tight (<- wink) They reject the hope of a softer way Jason stands his ground His perception can guide them to solace He sees a truth they’ve long ignored The planet’s behavior Connected to their thoughts A bond that could heal or destroy He calls them to face their own strength To end the fight or lose it all The city quiets A fragile truce holds the planet’s balance Jason boards his ship The stars call for his return Another gambler’s wager With the fight not yet done Pyrrus thrives its core still fierce A world tamed briefly And again Perhaps This is the way of the Deathworld Oh Deathworld Deathworld