He Wears the Eyes of a Stranger

He wears the eyes of a stranger
Though once we were close
Anger and madness blazing bright
Across my blood brother’s face
Hate robed in the Devil’s red
Dervish, Assassin, Berserker
As the mood takes him
A warrior yes, and a murderer too

There was a look he wore
Before he delivered the killing blow
It is the one I see now
As I kneel before him, murmuring prayers
Of the belief he – we – abandoned
Words that no longer have any meaning
To either of us
He will not let me finish
It is of no matter
Better the reality of his sword’s ‘amen’
Than the misery of a faltering faith