I have seen pain
push down hard until bones snap
resolve weakens
unable to continue
watch the color fade from his eyes
nights when even the bravest ones are hiding.

I have seen loyalty
debts paid that we’re owed
untimely deaths
but aren’t they all?

I have seen the strongest ones fall
become weak
nothing but a stepping stone along the path
of a so-called greater good.

I have seen the mothers cry when they find all their prayers were for nothing
that he won’t be coming home.
Empty promises
she goes through more pain than her soldier.

I have seen triumph
they wave me up high and dare the others to capture our town.
Let them come, let them try, for freedom is what we believe.

Freedom is our virtue, let us fight to the last man’s death.
But tell me - what have we won when their last man is dead?
What have we won when we have left every mother without a son?
Tell me, for I have seen it all.
Tell me, for this is how I shall defend their deaths to their own mothers.
Tell me, for I do not know if what I stand for is freedom any longer.