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Ajaccio ~ The Tower

"Ajaccio - The Tower" - a poem

We faced the sea

Cold, black wind tearing at our face

'We must be up at dawn.

We do not await the sun

We await dark crescents upon the expanse before us.'

The officer, grim-visaged, dark eyes leveled and flat

as well


The worst of it

Were the last hours of watch

When your copatriots were fast asleep

And you had nothing

To keep your mind from succumbing

to sweet obliteration


But the flagstone forgave one's pacing

Stamping out the cold

Mimicking of polearms

Stabbing at the night


We would hear witches screaming

Almost every night, and we could see their faces

Rise above the parapet

We would talk to them if they hovered long enough

The cold wind hitting our faces


'Praise God,' we would say when the shift was done

And the bed more desired than morning's rations

Or life - the rapture of darkness desired complete

Awakened by the guard

Smoke

'They come!'

Hope the signal could be seen then eternities in the moments to await the other towers and their guard

We dress our boots and our kit tightly, it will be time to flee

The signals to our left and to our right, plumes of dark black rising

We race inland with our chickens and our goats

Gather with the main body of the corps

Come back and kill the interlopers

and use their bones as mortar

for the tower.

~ JE May 9th, 2022


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