Posted: Sep 25, 08 10:37pm
Solemnly, sparks on the paving stones as shod hooves strike.
They moved though the streets, windows shuddered alike,
Eyes watched from within the bricked and the timbered.
Hearts filled with dread as the cannon unlimbered.
----
Black wings circled high on currents of air,
Hot death was coming, not caring a care.
Ranks steadfast and forthright, they lowered their pieces,
Responding to orders a trigger releases.
----
Abruptly the stars fell, the very earth shuddered.
The streets now washed red, with bodies was cluttered.
The promise of glory at killing and plunder,
Made real by gunsmoke, and artillery’s thunder.
----
The story remains, the pain and the sorrow,
At orders relayed without thought of the morrow.
The Gods of the battlefield watched them that day,
Took note of their haughty martial display.
----
The heart of a man went into the fight,
The heart of a beast made camp there that night.
Though the conscience of man can be small and ignored,
The things that they do inside them are stored.
---llambert
