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Thermopylae
As fate comes down upon the birth of the west and the world holds an anticipant breath
Wondering if a people divided could join to aid their brothers from a looming threat
If they should fail than the young west shall burn with an ideal soon to be learned
The people choosing the laws together, each person allowed to be heard with a word
A call to war at an enemy’s side, a war cursed by the gods with a king to fall
The powers at be choose the gods giving their king an army too small
Three hundred men who fathered sons, ready to die and thrilled to fight
The men not chosen mourn the loss wishing they walked among the few.
Men at birth fit to join these brothers in arms and of mind
Trained since youth to go to war, to feel no pain, to evade, to avoid
These men who are trained to fight brother by brother and be a wall
So solid the gods would not be able to throw them down or cast them out
Thousand come for war to give a chance for their homes to last and their families to live
Led on land by a king of war his name renounced for intrepid fervor
Leonidas a man now legend among the living goes to war with plated bronze
Ready for a death he is cursed to face by the gods that he now stands to save
The sea is guarded by a forgotten man known to his brothers as Themistocles
He guards against insurmountable odds against hundreds more vessels than he could muster
Tactics and knowledge held them at bay protecting the land for the day
Where vast numbers were defeated by chance and prowess at the sea
The men on land a wall of bronze muscle and sinew ready for war
A hurricane of arrows to block out the sun rain upon them
A river of blood will come down the hillside and taint the water below
The first wave comes of the enemies swift infantryman what fools are they
They come crashing in mass upon the wall of the phalanx waiting for them to break from rank
The wall gives in slightly to catch the charge but the men hold fast and firm
The wall redounds pushing their foes back and readying their spears prepared to strike
The enemy pulses back in force three rows of spears now ready to bite
Above, below and forward, the spears go into the meek
And they can do nothing against the wall of bronze they aim to shatter.
The pulse goes forward and back while the Spartans hold ever still
The shining golden mass has won the day
Corpses lie in mounds in front
And the next day repeats the last
This night they celebrate sure of success
The energy is palpable to the last
After this blow the enemy calls the immortals themselves out to war
They come silent in cowls thinking of victory assured
They fall like the others; immortals can bleed
And so they pile just like the first
The false immortals are found in truth
But the enemy finds what it needs
Around the Greeks a path is found
And the hammer shall find its anvil
Most will flee for the retreat
But some will stay as rear guard
To give the others precious time
To rally together and fight again
These men fight with valor against the tide,
Reclaiming the body of their king
None can escape but the battle is won
The men who fled have been saved
Now these men have renown
their story sung in every hall
Now ages past the tale is told
Names are lost but forever they’re known
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