the tribune

just like
history
modern struggles
can be traced
to the past.

elves, gnomes,
the insecure
fairies and goblins
hiding below
the fallen autumn

castigated
molted
by the revengeful trees,
the sullen society that has no place
for the fantastic.

we have paths,
some more trodden.
all leading, learning,
and we can be leery of what
adventures they would have us arrive at.

and access to help
can be more than an extended lifesaver away.
coping. those intoxicants helped.
but how to ever truly believe
in progress?

I’ve studied the occasional war,
the ones where trenches filled
the lost arms, hearts, heads,
even of those who returned,
and wondered how to win my own.

so I ingrained
quite literally,
historical struggle into my blood.
I cauterized the hope that
only despair will encourage.

and look! the hills have
monsters charging this way.
daemons pushing fast.
the frontlines might not hold
the impending flood.

but they couldn’t handle-
come on if you think!
this hurricane of me
is the immeasurable force
of millennia of winning armies.