Civil War Soldier's Mantra

A patriotic fervor producing fealty A noble cause compelling loyalty Paired with a callous indignity Brash enlistee plunges toward destiny Honor's badge worn with impunity Duty's moniker embossed with magnanimity Insatiable bloodlust squelching all insecurity Unbridled ego clamoring a garrulous enmity Toward the villains who shattered blithe serenity First skirmish, pageantry displaced by gravity Mettle varnished with aura of invincibility First battle, fallen comrades question mortality Successive battles, severed limbs, caustic wounds challenge credulity Fragile mind being conditioned to atrocity War's heavy mantle now shorn of indemnity Threatening mind's sanity, hearth's perpetuity Once faceless foes now scream their humanity Once noble leaders brim with insincerity Supportive countrymen now fickle, distant entity Cheering press now rank with duplicity Only solace, hardened comrades equanimity