Payback Poem by Kevin Eaglesfield

I walked then with the sun full on my back
For twenty-seven steaming footsore miles,
Saw no-one else along the hard dirt track,

Met no-one crossing stubble fields and stiles.
I heard the carrion birds every now
And then, picking over tree hidden piles,

And knelt to silence them and pray and vow,
To gain strength holding my faith and my sword,
Then wipe away mad grief and stand somehow.

I could smell old smoke when I crossed the ford,
And through the village, taste the greasy air,
Where what was once and mine and tender loved roared.

Among the crushed and burnt and dead and black,
I held him close and slit the throat of Jack.