The Lone Rider

The battle cries fade in the distance,
The blood in the sky mellows.
Into the land of the setting sun
The Lone Rider rides;
Into the West he goes.
*
The Rider was valiant once,
He used to be brave.
But today he flees
Lest he should fall;
In his heart he fears this.
*
And so he betrays his native land,
His duty, his friends, his King;
For though he had no Achilles' heel,
Aye! His heart's love
He simply could not kill.
*
The Rider rides hard
As he nears his home again,
His steed froths in its mouth,
The earth melts under its shaky legs.
"Bear with me a little more,
My noble friend, my brother",
So saying he spurs it on
"Soon, we'll be home again".
*
But alas! The Rider knows not
What destiny has in store,
What be his fate.
For as he fled from his duty
His king had said,
"Deserters shall be hunted down like Dogs!"
And sure enough, behind a bush
In the form of an Ambuscade,
His Doom, his Death chose to wait.
*
They speared him, stabbed him, made him bleed,
But he did not stop, though he could not breathe.
"Bear with me my friend, my master",
He thought he heard his mare speak,
"Soon, you'll be home again".
*
And as his horse leapt
O'er his garden hedge
His head swayed, he fell with a thud.
He was home, and so he slept.
The auburn sky above him was dry
Only his faithful steed stood by him;
Alone it stood and it wept.