The Dying Game
The Dying Game
Joe Dougherty
Fleeting images in the fading light
A whispered voice… "it will be all right"
Evening draws and the shadows blend
Another day's fighting has come to an end
Tensions ease around the fire's light
Brings a calming peace to the gathering night
Cooling embers in the waning flames
Blissful slumber… it's time out in the game
Thoughts of glory now fade away
When brother vs. brother we did play
They sent the young to pay this debt
Of winless victories and blameless regret
Disparaging chiefs of the burial mounds
Spilt our blood upon this ground
For reasons, not ours to know
They write off, like a bad floorshow
The old soldiers they gather round
Laying wreaths on hallowed ground
Declare the price as freedom's due
Now simply words that don't ring true
NONE FEAR HERE they all proclaim
Willing pawns in the dying game
Now broken souls as home they go
To places they no longer know
The cost they paid in this day's fight
Leave fewer faces in the fire's light
Tear stained eyes that look away
No greater debts could they pay
This is more than I bargained for
Shut-up kid, you're in the war
NONE FEAR HERE they all proclaim
Willing pawns in the dying game
6/28/2009
Copyright © Joseph Dougherty | Year Posted 2016
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