>>398073they lie where they fell and there they remain still
no funeral pyre honored their passing, no gentle hands closed their eyes
the dogs found them at dawn, drawn by the scent of blood and they took what they wanted
the crows came next, black and patient, settling upon them like a cloak they cannot shed
their bones bleach now under the sun and scatter in the winter rains
the wind moves through their ribcages as it moves through hollow reeds
by spring, the grass will grow over what little remains and travelers passing that place will not know they walk where they once stood
their names? already fading
their deeds? forgotten with them
the earth claims all things in time, but them it claimed without ceremony, without remembrance
they are gone as completely as smoke and the world closes over the space they left behind as water closes over a stone
