Axis & Allies - damowords

Emperor
Admirant Tojo lilts thro lush gardens,
Lotus pools & fafalla commingling,
Pass’d palace halls tapestried with legends,
Bow’d by the throne of a line e’erlasting:
Offer’d a prayer
Unto his Emporer
Sate on a dragonschair flank’d by vase & flower.
His excellency Hideki
Had gain’d Hirohito’s trust,
“How long must we let them treat thee
Like some coolie in the dust
We must attack the enemy,
To strike first is a must
& destroy the sleeping Pacific fleet,
For which Yamamoto’s plan stands complete!”
He thought awhile & with a sigh
Hung low with weary nod,
Many shall cry, many shall die,
In service to this god,
What murder may be justified by monarchaic rod
Tokyo
Nov 3rd
1941
Day in the Life
Dust devils swept the deadlock of Tobruk,
Thou dead heart of this deadest of dead lands,
The hostile, molten sky of the Menluk,
Medusa’s blood‐serpents squirming thro sands;
Just as dawn grows
Eager for the slaughter
Tommy Sumner arose… life short, the days shorter.
Out of some mess tin would he shave,
Nobbly knee’d in his short pants,m
Supported a Crusader wave,
Carthaginian elephants,
Steel citadels become a grave,
Flames licking from the vents…
& with a best mate shot on either side
A brown‐eyed boy from Burnley nearly died.
As Billy writhed in agony,
On hot sand worm guts spill’d,
How terriblʹy veterancy
Such hellish sights shall build,
‘Well, if mi number iʹnt on it,’ Tom thought, ‘I shaʹnt get kill’d!’
Cyrenaica
November
1941