Halloween Sonnet Contest: The Warriors' Chapel, Bethel McGrew

Bethel McGrew is a freelance writer based in Michigan. Her articles have appeared in various national and international outlets. Find her Substack at furtherup.net.

The Warriors' Chapel

 At night, I climb the stairs of Calvary
To read the names carved in a sacred space,
Now only names to you, but oh! to me,
They summon up face after fading face.
My incense of remembrance starts to rise,
And once again I smell their blood in pools.
Again my anger takes me by surprise.
What savages we are, what bloody fools!
I dug their graves in sun, in rain, in snow.
This was my task. To do this much, at least.
To walk the miles of stretchers, row on row.
To bear a lonely light. To be a priest.
And even now, I hear the endless cry,
"But will I die? Sir, tell me, will I die?"

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