At the Battlefront
O, Life, where is thy spring--
mortal bodies fall beside me, blank
and daunted eyes staring into oblivion.
Mud and grit and chalk and dust
ingrain into raw skin, curdle in the open veins
whose blood no longer flows, but lies congealed
on cracked, marbled ground forever stained.
Cold enthralls the victims, quickly settles in,
stopping what hope was left
in a weak-willed heart.
O, Life, where is thy breath--
Fog refuses to favor the mind,
halts at the battle’s edge, and Haze his friend
that taunts the eyes,
leaves vision with cursed sight. Yet,
ominous clouds thunder in, roiling in
the Red Dawn that is slow in her approach,
and the strength of the wind only waxes, gathering
power with each torrent.
Somehow, battle sounds remain consistent.
O, Life, where is thy will--
the enemy advances, the Angel of Death
among their ranks, his war cry never ending.
Panic steals within each soul, but flight
has forsaken the feet, the legs, the mind;
all that’s left is to stand, to fight, to die.
The guard shrinks swiftly, tho heroes stay their ground,
tho determination still reigns among the battled air,
but weak are the stragglers, weak the outliers,
weak the children who are not soldiers:
they fall, never to see the light again.
O, Life! where is thy mercy!--
Slaughtered are our families, our livelihood,
our dreams.
We fight the course with might, mind, strength,
but Doubt has slyly taken in our hearts.
And when the morning rises, we do cry,
lift up our tired voices that threaten
to leave us evermore.
Where is the victory so longed for,
the end we hope that draweth nigh?
Mercy is my call, for nothing else is in my sight.
At the Battlefront by Nagini Riddle
Story Notes:
This story was not only inspired by a tumblr post (mugglenetfanfiction.tumblr.com/post/81852690184/it-is-important-to-fight-and-fight-again-and), but it was also inspired by Oregonian's Great Hall Cotillion story, The Crofter and the Snake.
Chapter Endnotes: I am eager to hear all your thoughts!