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One alone held to the call
And stood strong but knew he would fall.
To the task, he was sworn,
Although he was forlorn;
In the coming fight, he'd give all.

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The guards of Oðoæster heard
As of him through armies the word
Spread as the sand
Dropped into wind from hand,
And to hinder him not, they concurred.

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The leaders against him knew fear,
The more so as he drew him near,
And summon their guard
To hold the line hard,
For they held their own lives quite dear.

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He purposed the leaders to fight
Whose stubbornness had sent to night
Unending the folk
Who had borne their yoke
And dimmed from the world so much light.

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He started again 'cross the field,
Himself to his task he soon steeled:
To finish the war
And ensure no more
Need perish because they'd not yield.

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He knew that he had been misled
As had many who now were dead
And thought that he should
Do all that he could
To honor the ones who had bled.

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Oðoæster stopped and he stared
In that in whose making he shared,
In blood and in gore,
The results of war,
That for which he thought him prepared.

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Each side sought its dead to reclaim
To ensure they were not defamed
By foes still nearby,
But none did then try
To leave the felled fighters in shame.

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Around them, the armies broke down
Against such an act of renown.
The ranks all fell back;
There came no attack.
A reason to cease had been found.

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He knew that he had a near fight.
The distance between them was slight.
The width of a blade
Was all that had had laid
The one out--a blade he held tight.

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As Eranrood fell to the ground, dead,
Oðoæster rose up and said
He honored his foe
Who taught him to know
The value of keeping his head.

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As victor, one warrior stood,
And many around thought it good,
But others did mourn,
Felt themselves forlorn,
And still others fled as they could.

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Sometimes, a writer takes a break.
There's only so much one can take
At any one time
Of making things rhyme.
A pause can help sanity's sake.

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Yet soon, the one fight found an end.
Eranrood himself to defend
Proved at last unable,
And beneath his sable
He took the road to which all trend.

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While the two fought, there was pause,
And none wanted to be the cause
That fighting resumed,
For they would be inhumed
When it did--such is in combat's laws.

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And at the red streamers' display
Both armies started feeling dismay,
Some for the two,
And many others who
Saw the end of their deaths' stay.

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Scores on their blades soon emerged,
And shallow cuts from which they purged
Each other of life
Amid their shared strife,
And from them both streams of blood surged.

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In clanging of steel, they progressed,
Contesting which of them was best,
Who, amid the din,
Would come to win
And who would become the grave's guest.

20170911.0430

Light verse seems less than fitting today
As I recall times now long gone away,
A morning of fear that has altered the way
That all of us do what we do every day,
Reminding us all we are part of the world
And not immune from foul plans that unfurled
In billowing smoke and flames that then swirled
From mighty pillars that seemed to prop the world.
Sixteen years on, what more can be said
Of the strange new world into which we were led
By those of us left to unbury the dead
Or to watch, jaws agape, that long work?

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In such, they eloquent were,
Their weapons moving in a blur
That all on each side
Could not their wonder hide;
That great the work was, all concur.

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The only boast either would need
Was in their flashing spears' speed
And the strength of the shield
That either would wield;
Only sword-strokes would they heed.

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From each to the other, no word
Was given that anyone heard.
As they came close,
They uttered no boast;
Neither their prowess averred.

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Each bore a spear and a shield
And carried a sword to the field.
Of other arms, many
Were gathered in plenty,
But one may but so many wield.

20170906.0430

The two met on the battlefield,
And all knew that neither would yield,
For the one sought a fee
And the other to free
His people from threat himself steeled.

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The next day, Eranrood was cheered
As he towards Oðoæster steered.
The armies gave way
To watch on the day
The two mighty fighters they feared.

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Eranrood had, in times before,
Slain foes all arrayed by the score,
Commanding a price
He got in a trice--
And always he was thought worth more.

20170903.0430

To those there arranged, he declared
That he'd 'gainst the mighty be paired
And fight so that they
Might carry the day
Instead of how they now despaired.

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But as they cried out, there one stood
And cast back and away the dark hood
To reveal a face
That shone out of place,
Showing one, by name, Eranrood.

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Soon enough, it became known
They broke on him, waves on the stone
That rose 'bove the tide,
And his foes all cried
That they such could not fight alone.