Glamour does promise a mem'ry swept,

A shower of angels, a covenant kept

Plate mail 'fore grief, a fame-woven crown

A toast with the eagles, a spat to the ground



But the glitter must settle, joining the dust;

The postlude is wailing! retiring the bust-

The eagles seek roost now, spilling the wine

Even seraphs must station, stained-glass windows remind.



The suicide now you envy, for he governs his knot,

Tho' dangling from hick'ry, a legacy is wrought;

'Neath steeple and chime with his ghost do you lay,

Groping for germ while the reaper stalks his prey.



But go- Rise quickly! Abjure the ground,

Stamp heavy the soil about the mound

Embrace the wound of a century's might,

whence the sword of death is merely life.

01/12/1995

Posted on 05/10/2010
Copyright © 2025 Brian Roberts