The Penultimate Moment

An impending doom creeping upon us
The General’s breath a billowing cloud of smoke
The portrait of Honor atop his starving horse
Feel the battle rushing toward you beneath your feet
The final moment of Atonement
Before the great powers Above him Surrender
The chess pieces move about in a charade
Nothing stops a soldier’s destiny
As the gods atop Mt. Olympus deal out death
Fighting fate is futile
The inevitability of a clashing of swords and drawing of blood
Makes him shiver in a draft blown from the thunderhead
The end rushes toward him on fleeting gossamer wings
This is the penultimate moment
And only time knows for whom death will toll