faint remorse in heart is muted by feat of glory,
easy is the lesson learnt when it can’t fail,
spraying bullets in combat and hurling grenades,
champion if vanquish, martyr if vanquished,
a soldier can do no wrong.
Years later victory fades and
the accolades flake off,
the heart remembers when the mind grows dim,
or worse,
it all replays through disparate lenses,
and when the past comes calling
it becomes the present,
now and forever you are a killer.