Loser, Losing, Lost

I.

The scene at Appomattox;

The Greeks at Thermopylae;

The men at Dienbienphu

Lining up to die:

A million ghosts will stop the throat

Of any who does mock

General Grant and General Lee

And all at Appomattox.

II.

There in every classroom;

In every secondary school;

And in every workplace,

Every typing pool;

There, beside you on the bus,

With that lifeless stare -

Nervously, outside surgery,

Waiting for doctors there...

III.

There's cancer in the South of France;

Cancer lurks in Rome;

Cancer circles the whole world

Until it finds you home.

In heart and liver it is waiting

For all of us, or most;

Our very cells join hands and sing -

"Loser - losing - lost."