Sparks: Senior Iranian officer says he expects renewed war with US

The storm approaches, not as a sudden squall, but as a slow, deliberate turning of the wheel, grinding all to dust.

The river that forces its path creates only resistance; the river that yields finds its way to the sea.

While men posture for war, it is the women who will mend the torn cloth of society and bury the fallen.

Fear of conflict, like any terror, dissipates when one understands the collision of atomic forces, not divine wrath.

Such pronouncements reveal less of fate and more of the calculated interests and perceived honor driving both sides toward their inevitable clash.

If negotiation fails, and war is likely, then the cost of peace was deemed too high, or the perceived gain of conflict too great.

Behind the bluster of generals, I observe the quiet dread in the eyes of ordinary men, packing their meager belongings.

If infinite worlds exist, then the squabbles of one small sphere are but a flicker against the boundless, eternal night.

When political leaders speak of war as 'likely,' one must discern whether this is a prediction of fact or a manipulation of will.

Observing the mechanics of escalation, one sees the predictable tension building, much like a spring wound too tightly before release.

Such pronouncements of war, while grand in rhetoric, will translate into higher bread prices and fewer opportunities for the common labourer.

It is a strange notion of progress when men declare a return to ancient conflicts as a 'likely' outcome of modern diplomacy.

One does hope the appropriate forms have been filed for this renewed conflict, as procedure is terribly important, even in hostilities.

From the markets of Damascus to the ports of Hormuz, the whispers of impending conflict will surely alter the flow of trade and the price of saffron.