Valor of Men

Ahh, raaah, ahh, raaah, ahh!

Roaring thunder chants.

The ground shakes.

The earth quakes.

The dust flakes.

Legions approach with haste.

As sand storms give chase,

Ten thousand soldiers marching in pace.

Each warrior, a stone-cold face.

Clink-clank, chink-chank.

Helmets, swords, & shields,

Rattles shining armor of steel.

Chain mailed and face veiled.

Huff, huff, huff!

Calvary neigh, snarl, & scream.

Ten thousand assailants,

From blinding rays of sun do gleam.

At last, the time has come.

Bum, BUM! Bum, BUM!

Sounds the loud battle drum.

In formation, all allies scrum.

Soldier to soldier,

Shoulder to shoulder,

All locked airtight,

Stand one thousand knights.

Now deafening air, the silence reeks,

As the king rises to speak,

“Men of valor!

We now stand toe to toe with death.

We laugh at its feet!

Look to your side, to your brother’s eyes.

Will you fight or will you retreat?

Behind us resides our city gates,

Behind us lies our family’s fates.”

“Men of God,

Today we battle,

Not for ourselves,

Not for vainglory,

But for our sisters, our mothers,

Our wives, & blood brothers.

Surely we may die,

But die we will, regardless of time.

If we get to choose,

I choose here! In this field of red.

I choose here! In this honorable stead.

I choose here! With my brothers who bled.

Rather than age & dementia, lying alone in bed.

Rather than an old spoon fed, crippled with dread,

Reeling of aches, lost in my head!”

“So today we rise & we stand.

Today we stare down the devil’s band.

By our might & our skill,

We will strike & we will kill.

Here against the gates of hell,

Our enemies are stopped; they will not prevail.”

“To each of you I now speak,

As if we’d sat down to eat,

As if we’d broke bread & wheat,

As if we’d shook hands in the street.

Today, we are one.

One unit, one team.

One knot, one string.

One chain, one link.

One fabric, one seam.”

“Brothers in arms,

These bonds won’t break.

For none of you, will we ever forsake.

With each step & each breath,

For each other- we fight unto the death!”

“So march forth now,

Into the hurricane, into the flame.

Into the blizzard, into the blaze,

For death has no grip, & no hold on our ways!”

With the king at the helm,

With not one dispelled,

Outnumbered x ten,

Are one hundred x ten,

The one thousand kin,

Raging into the hell within,

All say a prayer & amen.

Now duly earned,

Is the valor of men.