Duty and self sacrifice

There he was upon his exhausted stead,

The chinks in his armor,

Dread in his eyes as he has witnessed his brethren cut down in battle,

The comrade he held in his arms the morning before,

Massive gargantuan naval ships upon the shore,

The sound of the horns the mere thought.... the sound sends him into shock,

Sounds of howling wolfs the hounds as cargo upon their ships,

The deepest of beats on the war drums he could feel the own sound of his own heartbeat,

He could  only hear the noises almost visualize them by the way his hair would spike up,

they had done it,

burned slaughtered their way through our frontlines,

the shore taken over,

with precision ease like a molting knife though a sweet bread,

the sounds men falling he could hear their pleas within his very soul,

King abandoned his own kinsman,

He was still there and he began to question why?

if the king had abandoned us then why stay?

he remembers has flash backs of his childhood,

Growing up His father the courageous man before the plague took him,

His mother sweet woman did her best to raise the boy,

but the military could provide a decent living,

Honor code tradition all values instilled in his mind from a boy,

His own family showed military loyalty to the crown,

He the 4th generation male to give service to the crown,

Him being the last,

Going to church every sabbath,

Being mandatory for all military youth,

Learning scripture and values being instilled into him by our god,

Honor code loyalty most importantly.............faith,

that is why he is in this fight,

The king the coward ran away but him no,

He is a man of code first family 2nd and 3rd country,

He could see it now, 

The oncoming army the sky as dark and void as the muddy trench hoof prints,

But in the face of imminent death he will face it,

Tired exhausted he raises up his sword,

Lonesome a single solider,

The poor horse tired drained leads this noble youthful soul to his demise,

In the name of God, Family  And country,

He leads this hopeless charge,

He sees his horse his arm an enemy face mask then...........black

Author's Note

Feel free to review be critical as you want to be.

Reviews

[Soren]

Cowards rely upon heroes to fight their wars. No more do those that declare war fight their own battles. There was a time that the leader led the army, no more. Some call it ignorance, some courage, cannon fodder has always been made of the poor and ignorant as well as the courageous. A powerful poem that speaks to this inequity and questions what is courage, loyalty, devotion and faith.

[emmajoygreen]

What a powerful piece of writing based on our planet's tragedy.

You've shared an account of one's man's death echoing through time into the present and - undoubtedly, into the future.

Are there numbers enough to surround that one man with what has been, is to this very day and - inevitably will return in the future: War - the greatest sin on our planet?