Ender's Paradox

up is down
rules left behind
no gravity keeps you aligned
are we lost or unconfined?
questions the sharp-eyed child.

for Ender, mind bender,
no problem encountered:
make doors
your skies and your floors.

protector is tester
that thrusts you in danger
you must be the best or
all people will suffer.
but ultimate leader
is lonely contester
with rivals on every side.

so call none by friend's name
as you play the school's game.
no warning—rules change,
few allies remain.
but who can you blame
when your heart burns with shame
at the sight of your reflection's face?

says Ender, mind bender,
if you can't find the answer
make doors
your skies and your floors.

and why fear this foe
that we cannot know?
the words that we speak and they forgo
might have ended this long ago.
but we could not breach the barrier there
so war became the mutual woe
that alone bridged the gap between races.

and adults now depend
on child defender
the one who wants peace
must be the avenger
truth and game shiver, blend
and so he twists the rules again:
thus world and war end in Ender.

and Ender, world rendor,
for the dead becomes speaker,
and makes doors
of his skies and his floors.

Author's Note: Rendor, n. One who rends. This word does not yet exist in the English language.