War

He sits a little ways off,
   Alone in the rain,
Just by the short lake shore,
   Beside the sugar canes.

The clouds are a dark curtain,
   Yet it is not yet night,
Weeping tons of sorrow, pain,
   Draining all strength to fight.

He sits on the sandy ground,
   Thinking of waters red,
Mist about him flits around,
   Shadows of comrades dead.

He hears the boom of cannons,
   The crack of machine guns,
Just above the deep canyon,
   Companions falling down.

He lays just outside the house,
   Lonely in the darkness,
Rain is quiet as a mouse,
   Mind a fiery forest.

On Charon's boat he's stepping,
   Crossing river of death,
They find him still and soaking,
   Without a single breath.