Fires which burnt brightly

This war we are waging is already lost The cause for the fighting has long been a ghost Malice and habit have now won the day The honours we fought for are lost in the fray Standards and bugles are trod in the dust Wounds have burst open, and corridors rust Once proud and truthful, now humbled and bent Fires which burnt brightly, now energies spent Let down the curtain, and exit the play The crowds have gone home and the cast sailed away Our flowers and feathers as scarring as weapons Our poems and letters have turned to deceptions