Odium

by Brian Francis

Without irony
When a people choose to challenge fate
And run head on into conflict and chaos
When the course is set
And aggression is released from its cage
To invite horrors and death to mingle
And dance among their foe

The blood feast begins in the flash of a moment
When fear and terror join to defeat reason
And bind hidden the hands of peace
Forcing the alchemy of destruction
To lay waste and devastate the enemy
Often in the name of god

The aura of contempt is seen
In the eyes of the soldier
A blinder to protect his own mind
A justification of sorts
A place for the images to reside
A place for righteousness to reign

Face to face with their own mortality
Threat is seen in the eyes of the enemy
His posture, his face, his indecent purpose
All good reasons to kill a man
Even without pleasure, battle sings freely
As pain and mutilation breathe deep

Death howls at the abundance
At the carnage presented before it
Lovingly embracing this dimming of light
Drawing in those lost souls
Whose time has ended
Whose day has passed

Copyright © 2020 Brian Francis