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Two soldiers

Purple satin cushions blemished with blood;
Likewise the golden cup crusted with gore;
Velvet carpeting disfigured with mud;
Crystal chandeliers that tinkle no more.
Amidst all he lay – his body putrid –
Chevrons proclaiming: base common soldier.
Crawling with maggots, in his neck buried:
A golden dagger, prize for his valour.

Tha sabre that cut him was now at last
Ornamented — with noble blood drying;
Wailing and gasping for glories now past,
Thrashing in gloom the marshal lay dying.
One among hundreds with no pomp or show,
His medallioned breast still outshone the snow.

Comments

Anonymous said…
'tis well-crafted indeed. And captures the glory in death, of having picked the cause for death than a cynical fading away.
7 March 2011 at 11:09 pm
Ozymandias said…
Thank you so much!
8 March 2011 at 7:23 am
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