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Verlyrus -> RE: Fluid Emotion (12/31/2009 17:34:27)
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a.Black&White
The Black side starts to march westward,
Saying goodbye and turning toward
The setting sun, they shoulder arms
And obey commands they’ve learned.
The White side fortifies the town,
The peasants all obey the crown,
They heft their bows and mount the walls,
Preparing for the strike.
As Black marches far from home
The sun crisscrosses heaven’s dome,
They sing and walk,
And cry and talk,
Of loved ones left behind.
The spies of White give their reports:
The soldiers Black are all those sorts
Who kill and steal,
This is for real;
And burn all good things to the ground.
A week more passes,
And in the town
The huddled masses
Are ready for the storm.
The sky grows dark, the shadows fall,
And through the night, the piercing call
Of horns drives on the soldiers Black.
The siege is readied, Black forms lines,
But the gates burst open, and through the pines
Of spears and pikes, the Commander sees
The White.
Tear-soaked eyes are blocked from sun,
From helmets, bronze, except for one,
The Captain White, his head is bare.
They fight.
And through the dust and screams of pain,
And over bodies of the slain,
The Captain White perceives the sense
That all this battle is in vain.
Commander Black has stopped his fight,
His ears prick up, the sounds, not right.
He hears the cries of men he knew
And those he didn’t: the same in night.
He halts his troops, he pulls them back,
They sob in pain, in grief, for lack
Of will, morale, and any hope,
And friends left on the field.
Captain White, he see their plight,
And thinks what would have been that night,
If neither side had gone to war,
If neither side just had to fight.
He groups his men, and without sleep
With bodies of slain Black they creep
Toward the silent camp.
With every single one lain out,
They throw down armor, swords and shout,
In anguish, sadness, and in grief.
They see themselves in those who died.
The last of Black meander there,
Lost and hopeless, they just stare,
As soldiers White, as though for own,
Decorate the fallen Black with care.
Both Black and White, they start to wail
Wordless thoughts hit all like hail,
They build a fire, large and bright,
and share their stories ‘til daylight.
As Black prepares to leave the White,
Commander and Captain, hands unite,
They look each other in the eye,
And understand:
No one had to die.
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