Soldiers Pay

Souls and bones in catacombs,
The one to rise amended,
The bones in sand to lay the land,
With soldiers’ shadows suspended.

In bonds with all their comrades,
The faces in fever dreams,
Spilt the blood of righteousness,
Return on angel wings.

Granite visions arrange,
Each headstone squared away,
Names throb in endless pain,
To crumble in potter’s clay.

At once I was unmended,
The pulsation of my spirit lost,
Untold scars on shoulder bars,
Alone to weigh the cost.