When Silence Wept

"Horrors"

I march beneath a blood-red sky,
The stench of death still lingers high,
My boots tread paths of shattered bone,
And yet I fight for gods unknown.

The orders come, the steel is drawn,
I strike at dawn, I kill 'til dawn.
Faces blur in the smoke and flame,
And all I know is blood and shame.

I've slit the throat of boys too young,
Felt their last breath upon my tongue,
Their eyes, wide open, haunt my sleep-
I dig their graves, but never weep.

I've burned down homes, watched children scream,
Flesh melting in a twisted dream.
We say it's war, we say it's right-
But who can claim the truth of night?

I cannot see the flag I bear,
Or why I kill, or why I care.
The colors fade, the banners lie-
No reason in the way men die.

I've dragged the bodies to the pit,
A faceless heap, the earth to spit.
We leave them there, forgotten ghosts,
A feast for rats, an unseen host.

The blood upon my hands feels warm,
Yet cold seeps through, a creeping storm.
I'm drowning in the things I've done,
A slaughtered world, a war not won.

For who decides what's wrong or right,
When murder is the law of might?
I kill, I live, I die, I burn-
But no salvation do I earn.

And so, I march to hell's own drum,
The reasons lost, the heartstrings numb.
I fight because they say I must,
But all I feel is iron and dust.