The Emperor’s Men

Army of Terracotta Warriors, 6,000 soldiers and horses, associated with the Qin Dynasty 211—206 BC.

Row upon row I saw them:
prodigal sons once mothered,
now gone to stone.
Warriors who never made war
resurrected in Xian, China,
from centuries underground.
Without so much as a word
they say, “Be it known:
We were born to this:
to rise, say nothing,
but eloquently tell you
we were not free men;
body and soul we were his.”
Erect, they stare emptily,
silent inscrutable soldiers,
cold battle-ready bloods,
granite men needing the touch
of women who come to muse
on their petrified children,
(effigies of uniformed men
in formation with horses,
weapons, and fighting gear,)
to do nothing, but witness
men unable to kill, or be killed,
to weep and take heart again.