Red Sunrise

The sun rose red above the trees As light spread across the field Cropping up across the land The shadows reluctant to yeild A man stands guard surveying, Watching out for morning's light, And to guard against invaders Through the long and trech'rous night His bugle's an unwelcome trill All across the sprawling camp Hardened men who were asleep in bed Now awake to the cold and damp. Grunts one and all, expendable men Prepare their final meals While a man in a suit, a politician, A devil among them, making deals. A shady few listen to him, And to what he has to say, While the rest of the men stay united Ignore his tricks and darker way. The red sun glints off all their guns As they mill around and wait For the shining beast that will take them far To the land beyond the gates. A brother among them, I sit and I watch, as they power by down the road The men inside laden with packs, Some struggle under their load. Our faces grim, expressions bleak, We're all prepared to die We've won and lost, many battles we've fought But none remember why. Grunts one and all, expendable men, Brothers united from the beginning A final battle, they promised us, But one we had no hope of winning. Way up in front, our commander calls For the convoy to come to an end, We off-load ourselves, and blink in the light, A look out warning of danger, ahead, around the bend Blades in palms, guns at our hips, we all lean forward and pray That we're all still together come night, That we all live to see the next day. It's a moment before we can see them An army huge and vast So big, it kicks up dust before it, So dense that first blends into last. Our leader had tried to take us To a place where we might have a chance, But the suddenness of their appearance, the cliff, Means that soon with death, we'll dance.