Normandy Eulogy

Months of training, of praying, 
Wanton dreams of glory echo, tangible, 
Among dead men walking. 
 
We dock, greeted by gunfire, 
Death’s scythe glints in the morning air, 
Glory unto tragedy. 
 
Humanity is obliterated during war, 
Virtues succumb to violence, 
Faith is lost upon the sword, 
 
For Life is just a call-to-arms by Nature, 
Now strangers stand as brothers, 
Lay as brothers, 
Entombed in the sands. 
 
The fighting climaxes, 
Sombre men lost in wild abandon, 
Joyous men will mourn. 
 
This is the last stand of fifteen hundred comrades, 
Their lost cries grate against the cold air, 
Fading with the fading dawn.