Flyer's Ballad

WWI - Author unknown

I know that I shall meet my fate,
Somewhere among the clouds above.

Those that I fight, I do not hate;
And those that I guard, I do not love.

Nor law, nor duty, do I do fight;
Nor public men;
Nor cheering crowds.

A lonely impulse of delight,
Drove to this tomb up in the clouds.

A ballard's doll, brought all to mind -
The years to come, seem a wasted breath.
A wasted breath, to years behind.

The balance of this life, is death.

It is rumored that this poem was written the night before it's author prophetically met his own fate
- shot down and killed from somewhere among those clouds above.

But, unfortunately, his name has been lost to time.