All's Fair

ALL'S FAIR

A young man frightened and alone
Cut off from those who cope better
In the bloodthirsty war zone
Taking shelter in a ruin
In walks a beautiful stranger
He could never have envisaged she would be his undoing
Her face bathed in a wrap of beguiling moonlight
Indifferent piercing eyes, within not a hint of warmth
Reinforced by the battles she's seen day and night
His first instinct, to take aim with his gun
But his compassion betrayed him
Left him there like a sitting duck
As she took a careful aim and shot him
Without a trace of remorse
Checked him for signs that death had carried him away
In its senseless arms
Smeared herself in the life force now gone
And thus branded as a killer
Smiling to herself
As she thought in different times from these
Who knows what would have become of a similar encounter
Turned and walked away through the decaying waste
"All fair in love and war"