Slaves

The threat, so dark on the horizon
Seemed far too strong to fight.
The only hope, we thought, was running
Under cover of the night

But we disdained to follow,
To leave the life we knew.
So we stayed, and they betrayed us
When they flew

Those who refused to stay
Are slaves to a different way.
They fear every dawning day.
What did they hope to find:
Passage or peace of mind?
Are these what they left behind?

The danger passed for us who met it,
But some did not survive
The ones who stayed do not regret it,
The slain or the alive.

But those who left are doomed to wander,
To flee the hated foe.
Though the menace is no longer,
They don't know.

Those who refused to stay
Are slaves to a different way.
They fear every dawning day.
What did they hope to find:
Passage or peace of mind?
Are these what they left behind?

Though they say it's best to live to fight another day,
You can't prolong your life with delay.

The menace, dark on the horizon
Seemed far too strong to fight,
But still our hope, we knew, was holding,
Pitting passion versus might.

So we would never follow,
Or leave the way we knew.
And had they stayed, they might have also
Made it through

Those who refused to stay
Are slaves to a different way.
They fear every dawning day.
What did they hope to find:
Passage or peace of mind?
Are these what they left behind?