The Scars They Kept

THE SCARS THEY KEPT

They followed him into Asia.

There he cut the Gordian Knot

And said he'd kill the King of Persia,

And so for that they fought.

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They fought their way down the coast.

It took them a year to conquer Tyre,

But at last they could boast

They had won the land entire.

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Next they took Egypt for him,

And they paused there for a time.

Then, on a whim,

He proclaimed himself divine.

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But all of Persia still remained,

So they marched on to the Tygris.

There they hard campaigned

And there they beat King Darius.

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They took his royal city,

They slaughtered all they found,

They looted without pity,

They burned it to the ground.

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The King fled to the wilderness,

But they chased him without rest.

They were all relentless

In their royal quest.

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They slew him in the heart of Asia,

Thinking that would end the war.

They had conquered all of Persia,

But Alexander wanted more.

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So they conquered yet another land,

In yet another war.

Today it's Afghanistan.

But Alexander wanted more.

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So they marched on to the Indus

In yet another war.

But, to satisfy his lust,

Alexander wanted more.

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Alexander wanted India and yet another war.

He wanted all of China, all that he could see,

He wanted so much more,

Even, perhaps, the sea.

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But they wanted no more war,

They wanted to go home.

They wanted nothing more,

He could fight the rest alone.

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And as they turned and left for home,

With all the scars they kept,

Alexander stood alone,

And Alexander wept.

            

Everyone But Me

 EVERYONE BUT ME

Everyone played their game,

Everyone seemed to go insane,

Everyone said, "We can't be blamed."

Everyone but me, and I remained.

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Everyone shivered, as though afraid,

Everyone bowed, and then obeyed,

Everyone did as they were bade.

Everyone but me, and I stayed.

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Everyone wanted me to go,

Everyone thought I would go,

Everyone knew I would go.

Everyone but me, and I said no.

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Everyone stood silent, not a moan,

Everyone then left their home,

Everyone left all they'd known.

Everyone but me, and I alone.

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Everyone knelt and bent the knee,

Everyone accepted their fee,

Everyone went across the sea.

Everyone went, except for me.

Yeats

 YEATS

Once, while riding in a carriage,

William Butler Yeats proposed marriage

To the beautiful Maud Gonne,

Of whom he was quite fond.

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She sternly turned him down,

Whereupon Yeats turned around

And proposed to her daughter.

She spurned him with her laughter.

Byron

 BYRON

Lord Byron viewed his poems as "nothing,"

As "literature" was not his "vocation."

It did not live, it did not sing,

His genius was not in that location.

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Instead, he sought another story,

A life filled with lasting fame,

A life filled with glory,

So posterity would recall his name.

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And off he sailed to Greece

To fight for ancient liberty,

There to make his fame increase,

And bring him immortality.

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He died in that far off land,

Seeking fame and glory.

We have forgotten his heroic stand,

And remember just his poetry.

Shakespeare's Love

 SHAKESPEARE'S LOVE

Shakespeare's favorite word was "love."

It fit him like a glove.

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He wrote it more than any word.

From his stage it was most often heard.

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Romeo whispered it to Juliette,

And Beatrice declaimed it to Benedict.

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And we repeat it now, year upon year.

"Love" is the word we most love to hear.

Napoleon

 NAPOLEON

"Josephine," Napoleon said

With his last dying breath.

No thought for the myriad dead

At his own lonely death.

Tennyson

 TENNYSON

Tennyson was reading Shakespeare

The night he died in bed,

Therefore, I truly fear,

He left the play half-read.