A drawn line of battle is a heart-stopping thing.
An object of dynamic power kicking you in the gut
causing a man to not be able to swallow
burning the back of his throat
incapable of hating such massed, latent energy.
It fills you with awe.
Across the field, sun glinting off bared steel
glaring from flags and banners
doubtless in acknowledgement every weapon is prepared
to not simply kill
but maim, tear, dismember, disembowel, decapitate
in blood to a horse's bridle.
Better to die than be wounded and abandoned on the field.
No warrior speaks, there is no murmuring or cursing.
Absolute silence washes the field like a winter wind
Hundreds, thousands of human brains understand this view
is the most beautiful, horrible thing they will ever see.
For many, it is also the last.
They stand on the blade between heaven and hell
and cannot tell which is the best.
And they wait
for the command.