The Way Forward

I take no joy in what I do
It is what must be done
Nor is there hope it shall avail
This battle can't be won

The arc of history is too long
To bend towards good or ill
The serpent rises and it falls
And we, our parts fulfill

All victory is only defeat
A reckoning delayed
No answer ever final
All built, in time unmade

Our path is drawn of blood and dirt
Of pain and hate and fear
A struggle no one ever wins
Yet from it none may veer

For what we do, it must be done
Our hand cannot be stayed
We will fight, and we will fall
There is no other way

~Tonin, October 20 2017