No Shield

The loading of a soul that goes to death,

Goes down to death with sewage burdens, weight

Of stuff like guilt, is far too like Macbeth

Crushed down in evil, but some souls have hate

Enough held hard against their shoulders, hearts

And hauntings.  Coward victims do not need

More vice-like heaviness.  The king’s hard parts

Of bravery (macho-ness and sword his creed)

Are harsh enough to help him face his doom.

His manly shield he throws away to face

Macduff and fate.  He welcomes final gloom

With something like a blood-filled wicked grace.

  Most men and women do not have the power

    To move towards death and meet it with a glower.

~ Phillip Whidden