To show them mercy, I become a fiend,
A curse upon my own, by kindness sworn
Yet contrite sorrow cuts through thickest rind
And hollows out my hallowed soul in scorn.
Such dulcet words for cloying, bitter thing.
For honey-laced ash inside ear it pours.
As words of rust and ruin with worry sing,
From inside, they are veil not moat heart roars.
Like whetstone, grace and duty sharp the pain,
To make me spare the foe that slay my kin.
Each sip, each grain is marked with blooded name,
The choice of poison left for me like sin.
The world is vaster than two ends of knife,
My soul is worth more than this bitter strife.
The context for 'the foe slay your kin' is that it is written from the perceptive of an army general who has lost too much in the battle and now has enough advantage to brutally crush the opposition if he so wishes.
'veil not moat' is meant to signify that his mercy/humanity and that ability is not a moat hindering his hatred, but a mere veil that might rip any movement. Yes, it hurts him to strangle his humanity under a pillow, but so would forgiving those how have slayed his kin, and that's the double sided knife hollowing his soul is.
