Nothing But Dust Poem by Kenny Mantinelli

Here he stands,
Strong and alone;
The temptaions arise,
A boy becomes grown.

A man by himself,
No others around;
Alone he braces,
And holds his ground.

Millions swarm,
One at a time;
He powers through them,
Through the guts and slime.

Along come his comrades,
To fight at his side;
Through all of this pain,
Each of the friends cried.

As tears poured down,
The man called a halt;
He wanted this pain,
To not be his fault.

Each creature looked around,
Examined each other;
Then looked ahead,
And saw the man as a brother.

The man called for the creature,
And it tip toed closer;
He then asked for its hand,
Though not wanting to force her.

Taking a large risk,
She grasped his hand;
As they looked far out,
Across the land.

Each creature saw the example,
As they took the friends' trust;
The couples walked away,
Leaving nothing but dust.