Over a breakfast of salt
Pork and hard tack
She asks him is he going
To die today
He tells her yeah but not
Until the very end because
He gets to carry the flag
In the final charge
At the door she asks him
Does he have everything
He needs - ramrod bayonet
Capbox canteen -
He checks himself
As if checking
For a wound
Some days he leaves
Doesn't die comes home
Other days he leaves
Dies comes home
Like any war