I was not there when the grass was damp with blood
I did not view the mangled bodies that spread over hundreds of miles
like empty corn fields
The smell of rotting flesh did not enter my muzzle and burn my hairs
I did not hear a soldier’s last wish
I could not look into their eyes, nor wipe away
the tears that ran down their flushed cheeks
I dreamt once, I was there--only to wake in a bitter sweat
and think of you

You with the matted hair and the rippled laugh
You with the skin so soft and screams so agonizing
You with the words that tear, and tear, and tear
You with the sweet scent that sticks in my head
though you’re across seas
You who leaves only one single hair on my pillow
which I pluck and lay against my heart
Yet still you are not here

I cry out to God for you
You, you with the beauty that kills me--the repugnant beast