New Poem: The Gathering Darkness (2012)

The Gathering Darkness (2012)

The darkness gathers on all sides,

Our allies slink away,

No hope of victory now abides,

No dawn to light the day.

And those who should have manned the walls,

Now squabble o’er the bones,

And so the culture fades and falls,

With no one to atone.

And we who cannot bend the knee,

Our people’s forlorn hope,

Come joyous, brothers, stand with me!

Bow not before the rope.

Let those who must go make a peace,

Who lack your heart and will,

From freedom’s rigors they shall cease,

And take the galling pill.

Sweet handouts make a man a slave,

As sure as lash and chain.

If freedom’s portion is the grave,

Who kneeling would remain?

So stand my brothers, proud and free,

And make a gallant fight,

That down the decades yet to be

Our doom throws freedom’s light.

--Robert A. Hall