Axis & Allies - damowords

A Restless Night
Two blazing fire trails lined the vault black vale
Where men sat cooking their meagre ration,
Whiling the while with a glorious tayle
Or some camp followerʹs lurid passion;
The wind whippʹd rain
Still slippʹd down in splashes,
Drenching all in disdain, framʹd by lightning flashes.
The soldier slippʹd into a dream;
Stood face‐to‐face with the foe,
The sunglint of his sabreʹs gleam
Blinds his target to the blow,
Who rippʹd his dreamspace with a scream ‐
Is this truth tomorrow
He flows deeper throʹ sleepʹs soft sanctuary,
Where dwells no fearful mind nor enemy.
Strange nightmares stalk Napoleon;
Some monstrous cannoneer
Fired one great gun at Wellington
Who held a burning spear,
& hurlʹd it down the cannonʹs mouth... he woke awash with fear.
La Ferme de Caillou
18th June 1815
1:30
A Busy Night
All throʹ the night the ammo carts trundlʹd;
Thousands of rounds of grape & canister
With the black mountains of shot were bundlʹd
For to slay with musket, blade & sabre;
O deadly sword,
With edge as sharp as breath,
Rough sharpenʹd to accord the victims bloody death.
Wellington watchʹd his Hussars que
To send their sabres sharper,
Then rode the road to Waterloo
To try a little supper,
Paced round the halls of his H.Q.
Waits for word of Blucher ‐
Til Muffling enters, fresh from the saddle,
ʺGood news, your grace, you may fight your battle!ʺ
All throʹ the short midsummerʹs night
Horizonʹs murky zone
Shows hints of light, a tint of white,
Faint traces of the dawn,
That grew in strength, until, at length, the day of battle born.
The Fields of Waterloo
18th June 5:00