inspired by pondal

i dreamt i heard the bells
from a place deep in the heart
the memory simply quells
the pain of being apart

the breezes that once i greeted
are far-off and nearly forgot
in this space the air is heated
and outside it is even more hot

the thoughts of defeat and of prison
were far from the joys of my youth
to conquest i thought we had risen
but otherwise turned out the truth

in joining the great expedition
i'd thought i'd be making a change
in this tired world's old condition
but now that seems too strange

to have been thought or desired
by anyone of normal sense
but young men are heavily wired
and to reason's pleadings are dense

to listen to falsehoods and wheezes
while thinking of glory and gain
is to leave behind the fresh breezes
and embrace the heat and the pain

the moon that rides there in the sky
is the same moon of young love
but here i regret that the lie
rose so much higher above

any thought that war meant honour
instead of destruction and death
at least i'm not yet a goner
but measure the cost of each breath

the pain and the noise and the heat
one could take if there were a chance
that from the despair and defeat
humanity at least could advance

but no one's seen where the power
to link every one to the whole
has vanished in this hateful hour
of decency's opposite pole

the days of brief triumph were magic
but they may not come by again
the ending is bound to be tragic
and that is both painful and plain

do not in the time that's remaining
assume that the evils are past
somewhere the foul hounds are training
and this fight will not be the last

the value of speeches is zero
that's one thing i have learned
the speaker is just a false hero
and victory still must be earned

so now in the heat of this prison
i sigh and i wince and i moan
the moon in the east is now risen
and my heart is dead as a stone