I wish I could write like this...

You tell us that you face the final foe
And know that this time you will lose that fight.
Oh, how can you advance with heart so light,
To leave us now, the comrades you did know?
We all must face him, be it fast or slow,
Who waits for us, far darker than the night,
Who sunders friends, with tears makes dim our sight,
But you, who face him now, no sorrow show.

I wish I could not hear, nor speak these words.
I must do both before your time is past:
"I never thought our games would reach an end.
There should be time for one more dance of swords."
Now I would beg a gift I can hold fast,
Give me one last embrace -- as friend to friend.

--- Duke Frederick of Holland
48th King of the West
November XXXVIII (2003)
(c)2003 Frederick J. Hollander. Permission to copy is freely granted