The Toll of War

I only hear your children weep, I only have their dreams. I do not pray my soul to keep, For mine has split its seams. I only see what your eyes see, Your blood upon my hilt, For though you were my enemy, Your death brings me great guilt. I laugh with rapture, unawake, An eerie sort of sign. The lives in war I had to take Seem well a price for mine, And yet I’ll never pay that cost, But try to live for right. If future wars are won or lost, Find me not in that fight. I swore to never kill again, A sacred vow was made Inside my soul, and not for men, And for that magic paid. But killed by greed, my vow undone, T’was for a death I prayed! But for my prayer, the other one – Kismet – to rest was laid. Haunted by those ended lives, I’ve tried to do some good. I’m still the same, I still survive, And with a soldier’s blood. But I don’t pray my soul to keep, For I still see their dreams. I only hear your children weep, And always will, it seems.