This is not – in any way – an accusation
or declaration of antipathy
but rather an appeal for clemency or kindness
in the face of unflinching indifference
This is the love song of the obsolete and abolished
the lament of annihilation and drip-fed extinction
This is the tattered banner, torn in mud-stained defeat
and I the vanquished foe in a battle
I neither wished for nor knew would come
This is my body, unburied and trampled
on the field of strife
a single point of unspeakable carnage
in hostilities of which I was unaware
This is my acquiescence to your superior
brutality and merciless resolve
This is an invocation and solicitation, a prayer
to your better gentler aspect
This is my supplication and surrender