Duel at Dawn

Katana blades
Glisten in dawn’s awakening
Warriors bound by honor
The world falls away
Senses heightened
Muscles coiled like vipers
Ancient ritual
Civilized barbarism
Man is a wicked thing
If one must die
This is a noble path
One lunges forward
Tempered steel whistles
A flick of the wrist
And his fate is sealed
The arterial spray
Blankets the snowy ground
Crimson droplets
Poetry in motion
A samurai falls
But his soul is free