Silent now,
this once rambunctious band
of warriors.
All of them
silent now,
except me.
All these years later,
I still remember
the Elder’s advice
as she covered her knees
with her blanket.
“The cause you fight for
will never be absent
in the world,
for the hearts of men are
ever self-serving.”
She watches from among the stones
and remembers the day
she saw her son die.
I mourn with her,
prayerful, fearful,
in the light as she fades from view,
her tears gray as
rainclouds,
and colder than
death.
BlackQuill 