Richard, for you ~

Unvarnished Defiance

A face like time unfolded,

Each wrinkle a dried riverbed,

Eyes reflecting ancient grief.

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Beneath the bone-white mask of years,

A warrior's steel unshattered,

Chest bare and unyielding.

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The raw arithmetic of decay,

Each vein a map home to death,

Yet iron gleams in his gaze.

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No silk nor armor can silence

The rusted clamor of time,

Or hide what we become.

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He stands, a living battleground,

Scars etched by days survived,

Not stolen.

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A reckoning, not a relic—

Unflinching against the tide,

With nothing but bare hands

And the steel of his soul.