1. |
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At the end, his mind was cast
To where it all began.
Upon the field of muster,
Callow youth and wolfish men.
Rattle drum and sergeant’s shout
Entreating them to join.
In each man a hunger,
Some for glory, all for coin
For want of silver drove them
To risk life for distant kings.
Brazen Mars plays on men’s hearts,
Solemn Pluto holds the strings.
In his head danced idle dreams
Noble glory, lust for war
The foe would cry for mercy
The girls would cry for more
So when news of the muster
Reached the hamlet’s crumbling walls
Spurned plow, quit stony soil
And hastened to the call
(refrain!)
Across the field, proud veterans
Drilled in ranks with deadly ease
He envied them their purses
Grown fat on all they’d seized
Ugly work, such plunder, though
In war, he’d be forgiven.
No sin to commit vices
Under auspices of heaven!
(refrain!)
At last he reached the ledger,
Signed his fateful mark within.
The officer arose and
Cast his eyes over the men:
“You sorry lot know nothing
Of the hardships yet in store.
But obey and you’ll find glory,
God and prince call you to war!”
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2. |
La bataille (The battle)
04:00
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A shuddering breath, he awoke in the mud
Eyes clouded with grit, mouth tasting of blood
Smoke all around him, near deaf from the din,
Dazed, he arose, tangled up in dead men.
Witless and lost as the world spun around,
Gaze came to rest on a helm on the ground,
Dented and split in some savage attack.
Battle raged round! Mem’ry came flooding back.
Weeks of fast marches, long hours at drill,
Knew chaos was coming, knew blood would be spilled.
But under great hooves, amid sabers’ bright flash,
Unblooded and green, the square had collapsed.
One unhorsed rider, leg crudely askew,
Now arose and advanced on the weaponless youth.
Who stumbling back, tripped on some lifeless horse,
But fell on a pistol, still clutched by a corpse.
Desperate, he aimed, for the hammer was cocked
Praying the barrel still carried its shot.
But though the flint sparked, the pan fizzled and died
And iron hands choked off the boy’s frantic cry!
Fighting back panic, hands clamped ‘round his throat,
Flailing, he dug for the knife in his coat
Grasping the hilt, new resolve rose within
The will to survive, to slay and to win .
A gap in the cuirass, the blade plunged inside
The rider exhaled with a rattling sigh
Frothing blood poured with each laboring breath
And losing his grip, he slumped into death.
He stands, as reborn, blade and clothes running red
As scavengers creep to the battlefield’s edge.
The armies withdraw, and among the deceased,
A humble priest kneels, grants the fallen their peace.
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3. |
La maraude (The raid)
04:33
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Wolves prowl closer
They’ll reach the gates tonight,
Hear howls borne upon the wind
Seeking provisions
For soldier, god and king
Silver tongue in toothy grin
The merchants say
In towns along the armies’ way
The winter stores are all but gone
I fear today
That all our labor laid away
Will only feed this savage throng
Soldiers fill the door,
Fire crackles, ale is poured,
Bedlam waiting until bidden
Hungry eyes survey
The youth marked a wary maid,
To uncover all she’d hidden.
As captain to his host
Raised glass in mocking toast
And bid them “furnish up a feast”.
Emboldened by despair,
Lest ladder be laid bare,
The innkeep dared deny the beast
Pretense now undone
Sword drawn, the captain sprung
Sent innkeep sprawling to the floor
In naked delight
He snarled to the night
Words recited many times before:
“Miserly peasants
How cruel you to begrudge
To my men, wounded, tired, cold”
“By merciful god and
By order of the crown
We now lay claim to all you hold!”
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4. |
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A slight nod from the captain
Now sealed the inn’s demise
And soldiers set to motion
Each according to his vice
A paradise for scoundrels
The greedy, coin to gain
The lecherous to slake their lust
The cruel to savor pain
Amid the crashing tables,
Folk fighting for the doors
The youth set out to seize
The girl he spied before
But many shared his appetite:
She was buxom, young and fair
Though maid evaded grasping men
He caught her by the hair
The girl, wide-eyed, atremble
Had crumpled to the floor
When pressed to bare her riches
Her glance betrayed a door
He paused upon the threshold
Sin’s portal gaping wide
Then, thick with greed and hunger
He thrust the girl inside
His gaze sought some hidden stash
Then froze in dumb surprise
The maid had knelt before him
A hand crept up his thigh
Inflamed the urgent swelling
Untied the straining lace
One sweet hand promised pleasure,
The other swung a blade
She aimed for throat, but wayward knife
Dug gash ‘cross his face
His howling, flailing, iron grip
Cut short her vain escape
He dragged her back toward him
Blind fury conquered lust
A candlestick came to his hand
Her winsome head to crush
The savage blows continued
Long after cries has ceased
Her bone and brain commingled
With crimson, dripped from cheek
Lost and dream-like, deadened
Awash in Mars’ flood
He awoke to his reflection
In the gore and spreading blood
He knelt, lay claim her cradled pouch
And weighed the price of sin:
A pair of dented coppers
A tarnished silver pin
He stumbled from the doorway
Clothes disheveled, splattered red
The captain clapped his back and crowed
“The young prick likes them dead!”
The men all turned toward him
Wracked by guilt and growing pride
He stood, awaiting judgment
And found envy in their eyes!
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5. |
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Soldiers stream in through the convent gates
The fat prior’s protests resound
As holy sisters, abased and exposed
Tremble at the leers all around
Father, before you stand soldiers of the faith
Drained by this just and holy war
Sisters, I beg you soothe their troubled flesh
From the alms in your coffers, I beg coin
Our blessed labors are honored today,
God smiles and finances our campaign
For the silver of the chalice, thank the christ
For the golden icons, thank the saints
These unhappy wives to a distant god
Surely ache for their master’s embrace
Show merciful care to both ugly and fair
And find something to insert in his place
A heretic town lies mere miles away, yet
You profane your own lord’s holy home
Poor misled wretches, so blinded by greed
It will come at the cost of your soul
Father, these riches you’ve piled here on Earth
Mammon’s snares on the path to heaven’s hall
Now render unto caesar that which is his
Lest we render your souls unto god
Raid the cellar, bring up the cheese and wine,
From the belfry, cut down the brazen bells
Heed not the pious bleatings of the sheep,
This war-damned world’s already hell
Smash the cloisters, rip leading from the panes
Pile in the courtyard all you’ve found
Torch the steeple, with holy whores have your way
Let the smoke and the screams fill the town
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6. |
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So christian men send christian souls
To join in Pluto’s feasts
While Mars sets snares of glory
And thus gives birth to beasts
His heart exulting, he prowled the town,
one wolf among the pack
He smelled the smoke, he heard the screams,
Beneath a sky fading to black
They fled before him, through narrow streets,
He drank the chaos of the night
As thrilling as the battlefield,
and not an enemy in sight!
Amid delirious ecstasy
Dancing shadows and flaming brands
His lust exhausted, his satchel filled
Raw destruction now at hand
Sack the house
Block the doors
Toss the torch within
Won’t be long
Listen close
‘Til the pleas begin
A door of hope
With pikes arrayed
When you can taste the fear
Let them choose
Death by flame
Or death upon the spear!
Remember when
You were as them
Your callow hand
So keen to sign its mark
But, rider slain
You split the chains
And found inferno
Just waiting for a spark
Peasant curs
Soft and spineless
Their wretchedness revealed
Just like pigs
Brought to slaughter,
And so alike their squeals!
Do you lament
That uptight wench?
Who’s was the face you saw
Reflected in the gore?
Before you killed,
Would you have thrilled
To see cathedrals burn
When you were called to war?
The savage captain, with dripping blade,
Enflamed, assured, divine
Appraised the youth, a hunter’s nod
A salute to his own kind
Drunk with pride he spied a feeble man
Who time had beaten low
Pitiless, deaf to cries for mercy
He struck the final blow
Alone, entranced, he came upon
A tower, untouched, unrent
Drawn by fate, he climbed it
Step by step, ascendent
From atop, exquisite scenes
Layed out as gods must know:
Flames rising from sacred pyres,
The weak scattered below
His pounding head grew quiet
As fear and rage resigned
A fearsome, proud conceit
Caressed his frenzied mind:
Free in strength, no slave to lies
Of duty, god and king
The whole town: a sacrifice,
The night: a gift to him!
Gutless youth extinguished,
True glory now unfurled
An avatar of conquest,
The wolf astride the world!
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Neregar Melbourne, Australia
Blackened Heavy Metal from Melbourne, Seattle and Los Angels.
Neregar is:
- Matt Winkler
- Miles Frank
- Pat Birney
- Alec Sloman
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