"I give up,"

I say

as I kneel to the battlefield

bow my head

and lay down my sword

"I give up,"

I whispered

as I looked out over the dead, the fallen

counted the losses

and wept, broken

"I give up,"

I say to you

as I step away

walk away

run far away

"I will fight on,"

says truth

as I turn my head away

cover my ears

avert my eyes from the scene

"I will fight on,"

whispers truth

as I die

to the memories

and hope once felt

"I will fight on,"

cries truth

as I forget the bloodstained ground

as I mend my wounds and pray for wholeness once more

as I close my eyes to faces once beloved
and remember no more

"I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives."

-Tolstoy

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