Hollowed Land; Hallowed Stains

With a wanton deed
issued by a martial creed
you defiled their land
not as marauding pilferers
but as noble warriors
divesting the owner's stake
for the country's imminent domain

Tromping through fields of grain
garnishing food for sustenance
leveling nurtured trees
bearing their family's name
a tenuous hearth to claim
harvesting the livestock
that ferried livelihoods
for a brigand train
ordnance to move

At battle's cessation
relinquished libelous lease
returning scorched fields
along with denuded woods
to the bereaved tenants
whose now corroded dreams
lay beneath a pauper's claim

Disbanding the temporal camp
bodies and munitions marched on
draining the physical strain
leaving only the blood stains,
collateral for future generations
to cull the family's rooted name
for the nation's patriotic gain