There are no heroes in defeated armies, history moves on.

VETERAN OF THE LOST WAR

They said:
These a true man
Holds
Most Holy
His Soul
His Land
His Love
God Only

For these
He fights,
Strives,
Survives
The odds;

Does any
Dirty ugly
Jobs,
So put
Away
Those toys
For these,
Those are
For boys.

So you,
For these things-
Sacrificed
Betrayed
Defiled
Denied
Your Soul
Most Holy
Self alone.

The blood-rain
Stained
Your hands,
And on your face
You could find
No trace
Of the boy
You were;
He was
No longer
There.

They said:
"You Sacrificed
Betrayed
Defiled
But now all this
Must be denied;
We did not know,
We were not there,
The communication
Was not clear.."

And this ultimate
Betrayal: a smile,
So innocent of intent;
"You understand,
We are proud,
My boy, proud...
But don't ever speak
Our names out loud."

So you walk away
Deprived
Of all a man
Holds Holy
His Soul
His Land
His Love
God Only

But I say:
These I hold
Most Holy
This man's
Soul;
His courage,
His greatest
Glory
Let me be
His Land
His Love
God Only

No stain or taint
Defile him;
And on his face
Surfaces
The tender joy
Of the slow
Awakening
Of a man-boy.


Manuela Cardiga