This is the best time of the day the dawn
The final cleansing breath unsullied yet
By acrid fume or death’s cacophony
The rank refuse of unchained ambition
And pray, deny me not but know me now
Your faithful retainer stands resolute
To serve his liege Lord without recompense
Perchance to fall and perish namelessly
No flag draped bier or muffled drum to set
The cadence for a final dress parade
But it was not always thus remember
Once you worshipped me and named me a God
In many tongues and made offering lest
I exact too terrible a tribute
Take heed for I am weary, ancient
And decrepit now and my time grows short
There are no honourable frays to join
Only mean death dealt out in dibs and dabs
Or horror unleashed from across oceans
Assail me not with noble policy
For I care not at all for platitude
And surrender such tedious detail
To greater minds than mine and nimbler tongues
Singular in their purpose and resolve
And presuming to speak for every man
Oh, for another time, a distant field
And there a mortal warrior’s lonely grave
But duty charges me remain until
The end the last battle of the last war
Until that tomorrow render unto me
That which is mine my stipend well deserved
The fairest flower of your progeny
Your sons, your daughters your hopes and your dreams
The cruel consequence of your conceit
~ Steve Earle
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Published by R.M. ENGELHARDT POET AUTHOR WRITER
R.M. Engelhardt is a poet, writer and author who over the last two decades has published over 16 books of poetry including "Nod" "Logos" "Alchemy" & "The Last Cigarette: The Collected Poems of R.M. Engelhardt. The founder of the Upstate NY organization Albany Poets & the Annual Poetry Celebration The Albany Word Fest he has through his ideas & visions helped to contribute a large amount of advocacy and creativity to the Spoken Word~Poetry Capital District scene and is the former host of the long running readings Vox, Propaganda, Listen & currently is creating a new resurrection of one of the area's most well known open mics for poetry and spoken word THE SCHOOL OF NIGHT in Troy, NY held on the last Wednesday evening of each month at the incredible nightclub/speak easy bar THE BERLIN IN TROY NY. His writing has also been published by many journals such as The Rye Whiskey Review, Red Fez, Rusty Truck, Sure! The Charles Bukowski Newsletter, Thunder Sandwich, The Hobo Camp Review, Full of Crow, on the Outlaw Poetry Network & in many many others.
Look for his books "WHERE THE PEOPLE'S VISION PERISHES 2020" "DARK LANDS (2019 on LuLu, Amazon & At Barnes and Noble) The Resurrection Waltz, 2012 ( Infinity Press) & "COFFEE ASS BLUES & OTHER POEMS" ( 2018 Alien Buddha Press 2018) " DarkLands" 2019 & "Where There Is No Vision" 2020 and his new book, "WE RISE LIKE SMOKE" 2021 all on Amazon.com
He is also the Editor of the small independent poetry press DeadMansPressInk.
www.rmengelhardt.com
www.albanypoets.com
www.gentlemanoutsider.com
*All Poems, Writings & Information Contained On This Blog Are The Property & Owned By The Author R.M. Engelhardt. © 2021
www.rmengelhardt.com
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