It's war, war! At last it has arrived!

A wild exultation in our hearts,      

Eager and keen, we rise in our prime,

To the beat, in time we drilled and marched. 

The months soon passed, to the front we depart,

Patriotic zeal breaks all restraints,

As we leave the camp to meet our fate.             

The battlefield’s beauty arrests our breath–       

Its glorious rills, a sight to stir the blood.

We trust our noble cause, possessed with         

The will to sacrifice–poised to be judged.                       

We march through field and vale, no duty shunned,    

Assured our righteous fame at last shall reign, 

Pulsing holy water through our veins.                 

Despite the fire, we know we shall prevail.        

As war, like darkened thunder, rolls once more,

It’s sharpened claws now shown, its mask unveiled,   

Unleashing deadly gas among the gore.                        

We embrace the fate that’s set for us: war.                                

Our orders clear, obeyed with no mistakes,                              

We march forward; we cannot escape.                           

The trenches promise no relief from horror,                   

As shells rain death, with no measure nor form.           

Corpses clogged the scarred and bloody border,         

Where youths fell prey to war, its steel-clad storm.      

Cresting in a carnival of slaughter,                                  

Our furious enemy made his last attack,                        

As millions at the gates of Hell amassed.                       

My foe, a man of rank, then fell before me.                                

Within my iron grasp, he wildly whirled.              

My pistol raised, he fell upon his knees.                         

In desperate fear, the wretch would reach and pull                  

A photo out–a plea not from this world–                         

A family frozen happily in peace–                        

Held by grief–I knew he must be released.                    

While my sins in battle, I shall not defend.                     

That man alone attended to my dreams.                        

I hope it meant he’d see his home again.                                   

And by that act, perhaps, I shall be envied.                   

And by that act, my warrior soul redeemed.                              

While strength in battle may hold pride of place,          

I know the better part of valor is grace.