Victories Retain the Stench of Death

Music: Concerto in C Major for Oboe and Orchestra--andante.
By Antonio Vivaldi.
Performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra at the Free Music Archive
under an Attribution-Share Alike license.

Subscribe to this site on Substack

Subscribe to this site on YouTube

Subscribe to this site on Medium

Follow this site on Facebook

Follow this site on Instagram

Hear me read
the poem as
an MP3 file.

Watch me read
the poem as
a YouTube video.

Alpha List

Veterans Day
Poems

About This
Site

Poems for
Free

Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon

Victories retain the stench of death.
Each is cause for gratitude, not joy.
Those who win are fated to destroy
Every grace whose beauty gives them breath.
Remember those who fell on every side,
And grieve not just for those you call your own.
No torturer or tyrant dies alone;
So may you weep for every fratricide.
Death is no fit dwelling place for pride,
And hatred's not a passion to enjoy,
Yet all who feel have reason to atone.

Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.



[about this site] [poems for free] [poem of the week]
[site policy] [about me] [links]