Yet we keep going – how, we do not know

 

We slip of half-formed men confront our woe:

Six thousand thousand lifetime’s loss portrayed.

Yet we keep going – how, we do not know.

 

Warm truths you sent to cheer? These, we forego:

Our countless hours loom silent as the day.

We slip of half-formed men confront our woe.

Our faces ruined from the shrapnel’s blow;

From blown-out mouths hangs infinite dismay.

Yet we keep going – how, we do not know.

 

Release the tourniquet to loose the flow

Of sacrificial blood that makes our way.

We slip of half-formed men confront our woe.

 

Like gifts, grenades are shuttled to and fro –

Bright Catherine’s Wheels of burning disarray –

Yet we keep going – how, we do not know.

 

A million lives slip steadily below,

But lines move forward – why, we’re not to say.

We slip of half-formed men confront our woe.

Yet we keep going – how, we do not know.