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2022 Issue  >  Poetry  >  Honor

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Artwork by Mario Loprete

Honor

Dan Sniff

Cold steel, sharpened true

Ronin, betrayer, killed 2, injured 5

Rabid dogs must be put down

Final standoff on the bridge, eyes meet, blades ready

Clash of metal, one slip, blood flies

The betrayer falls, defeated

No anger, only regret

By the emperor’s will, it is done

 

Cold steel, sharpened true

Dissident, betrayer, sews the seeds of anarchy

A wild cur that bites its master’s hand

Those who create unrest must die

Leaves the market, free of caution 

Blade meets throat, blade meets blood

The light of revolution fades

By the emperor’s will, it is done

 

Cold steel, sharpened true

Thief, betrayer, stole from the emperor

A gluttonous mutt that eats from the pantry

One hand isn’t enough 

Pleas of innocence meet deaf ears 

A final line cut short

Tears run red

By the emperor’s will, it is done

 

Cold steel, sharpened true

Child, Betrayer, the thief's son, an accomplice

A wide-eyed pup

No place for criminals, no place for doubt

The emperor’s will is truth

Hand raises, for it knows truth

Hand wavers, for it doubts

By the samurai’s will, it is done

 

Cold steel, sharpened true

Ronin, betrayer, killed 3, injured 7

Bit by the rabid beast

A failed mission brings only shame

To know shame is to know death

To know death is to be freed of shame

Cold steel meets cold heart

The dog is unchained

Dan Sniff is a sophomore Music Education major with a Choral emphasis at UW-Platteville. He is originally from Browntown, WI. Dan is involved in music on the UW-Platteville campus, including being a member of the music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He also participates in theatre at UW-Platteville as an actor.

Mario Loprete is an Italian artist who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Catanzaro. His Concrete Sculptures series makes use of personal clothing. Imbued within the works, his memory and his DNA activate within the viewer a mode of postmodern archeology that transforms his pieces into urban artifacts. 

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