Soul Kin

"Revered father
I go now to accomplish my mission
And if it requires my life, I will sacrifice it gladly
To be a good servant to our nation."

My good and wise comrade
My soul's brother
They told me he had been killed by an explosion
They made no mention that I had watched him die
They spoke not of his kin
Or whether anyone adored him
Or had wished to bear or had borne his child
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

For them to think that I did not remember
That there was need I should be told again
When, in his burning cry, I blamed myself
How my sorrowed gasp in vanished air
Shook all sustenance into still space
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

With life returned to me but not to him, there came the three
The First, a dark man upon a ladder, needled by doubt
And by the Shadowed Dog, slave to Atë
Atë, the Second, worthy of being looked upon!
Atë, slave to the Third, who hides and yet is seen
Through years, and through days, and through hours I did not know
Did they drag me forth from darkness, or from peace?
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

Many times, the voice, the Shepard's voice,
And it will brook no future of self-pity
The Shepard's lot must be to hear
And ease the lamentations of all sheep
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

How many times has this one answered and stood forth
Taken, with shaking hands, unequal scales
Heard and weighed facts cold as darkest depths,
And the true and sad travails of the subaltern?
As I was trained and was raised up,
Many I trained, raised up in turn,
To know that in this place
Where error means death and death means error,
What is commanded must be had, for no less will suffice,
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

How many mothers' tears are too few
To be in accord with the work that we do?
What medals and honors, what measures and bars
Could be near to enough for those in peril amongst the stars?
Ask the brave dead, they did not go forth for such
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

The First of the Three in darkness climbs his ladder
Striving for equanimity
Of soul but the needle's bearer gets no purchase
Unless he confronts his thoughts,
However noble in their intent,
That shade to serving good by evil means.
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

There is no mercy between man's law
And the Second of the Three
Atë, worthy of being looked upon
Atë, law's lovely offspring.
Atë, mistress of folly and delusion - struggle now!
For Zeus is filled with rage towards his daughter Atë
And has stricken her mother's name from mortal knowing.
O Atë, forswear evil and become just
Or be lost in thought's traps for which you are named
And be condemned along with those you ruined.
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

The Third of the Three
The man who hides and yet is seen
Thinks he sees all, but like his ilk, in truth he sees little
The man who hides and yet is seen, if merely blind, would be no sinner.
Yet, since he claims that he can see, his sin remains
But Ashley, why are our souls' brothers and sisters taken from us?

Why?
Why, Ashley?
Why, Ashley-warrior-sister-in-soul?
Why shame the memory of our warrior-brother-in-soul
Saying to me that he was killed by an explosion
As if he were of no account
My good and wise comrade!
They made no mention that I had watched him die
They spoke not of his kin
Or whether anyone adored him
Or had wished to bear or had borne his child.

IN MEMORIAM

Lieutenant Commander Warren Allen Pressly III
Executive Officer
(promoted from) Chief Navigator

K. I. A. October 21, 2183
Alchera, Amada System, Omega Nebula

"Revered father
I go now to accomplish my mission
And if it requires my life, I will sacrifice it gladly
To be a good servant to our nation."

- Kitajima Kazuyoshi

Commanding Officer, Kaga Torpedo Bombing Unit
K. I. A. December 7, 1941
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Earth

[digital watermark ]

Normandy / Pro vivis silentio movemus, pro mortuis silentio movemur.
"For the sake of the living we move in silence, for the sake of the dead we are moved to silence."

[ ship's motto SR1 & SR2]