Ether 15: 14-32
by Dale Neibaur, 1976
Salute.
Sword upraised high against the blood-red sky;
Shields and strength and valor refusing to yield
to overtired muscles
As the sun kisses the ridge of the hill Ramah
To end the sixth day.
Six days of battle,
And of the great nation two men divided
In their all-consuming struggle for power
But fifty-nine souls remain.
Fifty-nine mighty men:
Men married to a war that has gone beyond reason,
Beyond desire for power or revenge,
Beyond the hope of any victory --
A war continued only because it was far too late to stop,
And because each man's destiny was bound to battle
By vows sealed tight
In the blood of countless comrades.
But the men didn't think about that.
They were far beyond thinking or feeling
Or even caring of their fate.
They only looked to the upraised sword.
Then, squinting to check that the time for battle was truly over,
They split into two groups and wended separate ways
Through the deep red mud around hills of mangled bodies
Until they had left the valley.
Twenty-seven men went east to Ramah;
Thirty-two men went west to the river.
They made hasty preparations for evening
And slept on their swords.
The night soon swallowed them all.