Beasts of Battle

Killing took some men.

Death carried them off;

Bore them over the high helm.

Came then three beasts of battle

One, a white wolf with fang and claw, 

Dragged the dead away hungrily.

Another, a veracious vulture,

Pecked at a bodiless armoured arm.

The third was a mounted man 

High above the fallen foes, 

His smile a bloodied, satisfied slash. 

The man rode over the remains, 

Travelled back to his humble house. 

His children clung to their father, 

His wife, not widowed, cried for joy. 

And the slaughterer smiled again

Held his family, happy to be home.