Blood,
fires from my pen
like a well shot round

14 karat *******,
mighty wound of
self aggression

Letters,
reducing armies
into a special force

Time dying,
as mortared ink strikes
the page

The raw edge of battle,
...new combatants die,
leaving their mark

Cursive warriors of the
spoken word,
martyred sentinels of a bigger truth,
—walking the line

(Richmond Virginia: December, 2002)