Pantoum 2 - El Deguello

 

 

I hear the cannonade and trumpet blaring

Announcing to the men their final hour

The only tender mercy that of dying

For love of honor and of blood they fall



Announcing to the men their final hour

El Deguello and the sound of marching feet

For love of honor and of blood they fall

Amid the gleaming sea of bayonets



El Deguello and the sound of marching feet

Answered from the walls with sharp reports

Amid the gleaming sea of bayonets

Countless hundreds killed by Texas lead



Answered from the walls with sharp reports

Of men for whom we countenanced with dread

Countless hundreds killed by Texas lead

Inexorable march to overwhelm



Of men for whom we countenanced with dread

Our cruel commander's murderous mandate

Inexorable march to overwhelm

Their ramparts breached their time now at an end



Our cruel commander's murderous mandate

The only cause upon this sun-parched plain

Their ramparts breached their time now at an end

Our lust for death in furious fulfillment



The only cause upon this sun-parched plain

The only tender mercy that of dying

Our lust for death in furious fulfillment

I hear the cannonade and trumpet blaring.