Where are the brave, ?

the loyal and patriotic,

?the strong and courageous,?

the dignified and honorable?

Where are the men, ?

the husbands and lovers,

?the fathers and sons, ?

the brothers and brothers-in-arms?

Where are the soldiers,

?the swords and shields, ?

the banners and colours,

?the beasts which they tamed?

Ah, yes, gallantly such met the ravaging storm,

?charging blindly the black loom of thundercloud and fog,?

stained blades raised high just as,

?the echoing cry of war, most strained.

Ah, yes, how intrepid those honorably deceased,

?nation and hearth purposed their armor’s crest,

?concealing lovers’ tokens lying limp on their chests,

?the blood of their line stains the barren ground.

Ah, yes, a most noble finale did such men display, ?

charging the swarms, the fiery beast consuming them surely, ?only the most repugnant spat out against stone walls failed,

?outnumbered, surrounded, Death approaching.

Ah, yes, how more so the last man, ?

violently charging the phalanxes of Hell, ?

returning the Reaper’s gaze, then bartering life for freedom,?

the last of the city’s might, ?

perishing oh so honorably.

Idiots! Die dost he, above all, for a selfish cause,

?the last line of a city’s defense broken, ?

yet, within the blazing rubble, a salvageable pride remains, ?though in countless heaps of cold and torn bodies, ?

pray tell, where are the dignified?

Ah, yes, how so honorable this last man, ?

who evaded the Devil as his brothers confronted Him, ?

who pointed the Scythe-bearer in the direction of his comrades, ?until a thousand icy fingers pointed back.

Ah, yes, how heroic is this last man, ?

solitarily confined to his inevitable doom, ?

his sword refusing to surrender thus emulating his heart,

?his hope and will to live lay alongside his brothers,

?comrades he then abandoned, leave him now to stand alone.

Ah, yes, how valiant is this last man, ?

whose love and passion comes second to his pride, ?

who’d surrender not in chance of living, ?

his thoughts void of that The Lord and that which He has given, ?that which makes the burden of life all the more bearable.

Ah, yes, how brave is this last man,

?who disguises his cowardice with patriotism,

?so justifying the causes and reasons on which he bases his end, ?

yet validating not the logic of his actions,

?choosing death and submitting not, in doing so.

Ah, yes, how strong is this last man,

openly defying Death and his pawns and pieces, ?

refusing to reveal even a momentary display of weakness, ?

the slight curl of Death’s purple lips reveal most black and jagged fangs,

?neither opponent resigning, only one visualizing victory.

Still, the marvel of such bold nature, ?

Below the tattered banner of broken resilience upon the largest stone, ?

Pursuing powerlessness over a fate to be decided, ?

embracing surrender as long as it appears otherwise, ?

onlookers and over-hearers all deceived by him,

but the Almighty God.

Humor. Tricked be not by such ‘noble’ behaviors,

?the superficial acts of superficial folk, ?

who pursue fertilizing their every growing and ever diminishing, ego, forever pursued by their pride, ?

and controlled by such weakness and inability to admit fault.

Heed this, prithee, do heed, ?

when in thy hour darkest,

?abandon thy clutches of an ego doomed, ?

fight to love, to breathe, and to, one day, perish with true dignity.

Shalt the Devil and the black army thrash at thy doors, 

?shalt ye pursue a virtuous battle, void of pride and self-demolition?

?Shalt ye accept The Lord Jesus Christ unto thee,

?to aid in thy battles against undying evil?