The Withered Warrior
+++++++++++++++++++++++
He gathers His Breath,
And pushes Himself to His Feet,
His Armour, Shines Undented,
He is Entombed in Raging Heat,
The World looks on at Him,
Applauding His Raw Power,
They Whisper, Admiring His Will,
They See only the Warrior,
Covered in Gleaming Steel,
Only His Eyes Burn Through,
No One Sees the Man Beneath,
A Broken Body, A Soul's Fading Hue,
The Scarred Man Inside,
Took His Metal off Before,
But the Adulation of Admirers,
Quickly Turned to Horror,
He cannot Remember the Falls,
Only Cracked Knees remain Testament,
Of each Breaking Blow He's Borne,
Of the Harrowing Beating He's Taken,
The Fire They see in His Eyes,
Is not Fueled of Intelligence or Furor,
It's the Blue Flame of Madness,
From Despair Fed Evermore,
Death They say is a Feather,
Duty, The Weight of a Mountain,
With His Parched Lips Pursed,
He shifts under his Burden,
He awaits the next Charge to Break Him,
The next Lance to Pierce Through,
the Faultless Burnished Steel He Wears,
He Hopes this Time, Its Aim is True...
+++++++++++++++++++++++
