The Long War

My death marks our victory. He's long dead, killed in battle, as a conqueror, on our soil, but after his death we had all the time in the world. We chased history into shame, and shame into secrets, and choked the secrets down. We went to the ends of the Earth to kill the grandchildren of veterans and raise their orphans as our own. We conquered countries to erase a single word.

I'm the last person who knows who died undefeated where now stands a tribute to heroic, failed Nelson, and tonight I'm dying without having told a soul.

We won.