A KNIGHT TALKS TO HIS TEENAGE DAUGHTER

I grew up as the other boys,
And once spoke with another voice;
But there was this great path I craved,
Whereon that lad finally waved.
As serpents shed their flesh with time,
As hunger eats a precious dime,
So suns dry up the swampy earth,
And rat bane bring men certain death.
As toddlers learn to walk more sure,
As teenagers try to dress pure,
So a soldier's heart does transform,
And wars become where he came from.
A soldier hails from battles, lass;
He's spent cold nights beneath the stars
And stopped the lives of other men.
He gets used to taking lives then.
I grew in mind and body, dear,
I matured through labour and fear;
So if I say I hail from wars,
I mean that I'm not who I was.