I WILL FIGHT
A poem by Barrett Tillman
This is an original work by my friend Barrett Tillman. Barrett Tillman is a prolific author of books on military aviation (He's famous and everything! -Ed).
I was quite taken with "I Will Fight", and think it deserves far wider distribution than this web site. This, however, is a good start. -Bill
I WILL FIGHT
Fought for power, fought
for glory fought for kingdom and my kind
Fought for conquest and survival, fought for eons, through all time.
Fought for avarice and
ego, fought for land and fought for gold.
Fought for food and fought for women, fought in deserts and in cold.
Fought from horseback and
from camels, fought from warships' slip'ry decks.
Fought in chariots and in panzers and in supersonic jets.
Fought with spears and
fought with missiles, fought from castles and from forts.
Fought with arrows and with cannon, fought for money; fought for sport.
Marched with Caesar and
Pizarro, rode with Custer and the Kahn;
Sailed with Nelson and with Nimitz; flew with Goering and beyond.
Stormed a hundred bloody
beaches, besieged a thousand bloody towns.
Vanquished scores of foemens' armies, saving others for the Crown.
Conquered Incas and Apaches,
colonized the New World through;
Mastered Zulus and the Mahdi, beat the Moors and Carthage too.
Lost to Shaka and to Rommel;
got whipped oft by Bobby Lee.
Was by Bonaparte defeated every time he battled me.
Yet through all the years
and battles never once did I decline
To pick up a pike or musket, and to take my place in line.
For I came to love the
battle with its own blood-stained appeal,
Giving little thought to rightness or the cause my sword to wield.
From the Tigris and Euphrates
on to Nippon's distant shore,
From Sparta on to Vietnam I just lived and died for war.
As a sniper or a lancer,
as an archer or dragoon,
Wherever there were wars to fight I regarded that a boon.
For I have been a samurai
and a bold Teutonic knight:
Giving rulers east and west equal fervor in the fight.
My cause was war itself,
you see, for I relished in the feel
Of foemens' blood upon my hands, and the mastery of steel..
The clash of arms around
me, joyous pounding in the brain,
And the bagpipe's eerie skirl were all part of my domain.
I have killed a quarter million and have died a thousand times.
But like Valhalla's warriors I arose again each time...
And then, one dreary battle
dawn while pondering my fate,
It finally occurred to me: Perhaps it's not too late!"
I thought upon my history,
of the times I felt most use,
Were when we fought for freedom and yet knew that we might lose.
The names across the centuries
came quickly back to me:
Those heroes fought for freedom, broke the yoke of tyranny...
With Spartacus and Prince
Charlie Capua or Culloden Field,
At Lexington and Concord, where those free men would not yield.
Call me rebel, call me
traitor, call me patriot if you like.
But if you infringe my freedom, then I promise: I WILL FIGHT!
-Barrett Tillman
copyright © 2003 Barrett Tillman
