Drums everywhere
Breathing life to culture
life to performance
life to soldiers
Each signaling

One
Two
One
Two
One
After
One
Another

Signifying the
beat of battle
Of rhythmic war
of a symphony
A symphony of terror
not always as it seems

Signifying the
heat of battle
Of wives in bed
of steamy passion
A steam of mustard gas
concealing what it is

Signifying the
neat of battle
of lined up soldiers
of a sitting duck
A duck with angel wings
unwilling to fly away.

What I fear most
The end of the drums
The end of
beat,
of neat,
and of heat
Continuing into
cold, sloppy silence.

What a crime
That a symphony
so beautiful
should ever be urged
to cease.