"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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