Rose-Nickel Plated Uniform

“Do not be too hard on him.
He tried to best he could.”

Do not be like the bent raining arrow
Do not be harsh with the wind
Try not to calculate too great a penalty
Do not be an ashen dusk preening

Please do not let God give you a bruised rib
Do what you must to avoid it, all you have
Do not be fearful of being too communicative
Do not be nervous, or fear that you will not speak

I have seen you coming in your rose-nickel plated uniform
Coming from a future that has no place here, we are not ready
Be like the light of language that has transposed no entry
Be like a missing moon, still related to the windswept tide
Cold, like an older sister, on the droplets of imitated bravery
Stolid, surrounding old prisons, where even the king could not