I set out on a meandering walk, just for the thrill.
I didn't care how long that jaunt would last.
And I paused upon the crest of a hill,
To gaze for a while, across a sea of steel and glass.
Then, with a sudden and jarring chill,
I was blinded by my distant, catalyzing past!

Slowly crumbling buttresses.
Deeply rooted stanchions.
Crudely crafted barricades.
Staunchly set entrenchments.

All these things were harshly stripped away,
With no remorse and no delay.
And in their place were soon erected,
Neatly polished, bristling fortifications.
Thus is the method of the military trade,
Tis the only way to build a unified brigade!

They tear off your face,
And throw you in the herd of other nameless sheeple.
You'll get a new one, if you can keep the pace.
Etched with glory and pride; magnificently regal!

As I stood there bleeding from my eyes,
I could see the mask that I would fashion.
Yet as I slipped into that exalted guise,
My heart did churn with wistful passion!

And when perchance my ear did rupture,
They offered me my absolution.
Even so, in my life today, my mind still has a military structure.
It is engrained into my soul and constitution!

Now here I am, not quite one of you,
Though, not quite one of them.
From time to time I am strengthened and renewed,
Then all at once I am violently condemned!

For from boot-camp I did wash out,
They cannot call me brother!
Yet I am surely stoic; yes I am truly stout!
And in the end I'll get through it all, one way or another.

Honor is my effigy.
Grace and strength my synergy.
Semper fidelis is my liturgy.
Nihil semper shall be my eulogy.

From time to time I might seem to be a dreadful dream,
Or a frighteningly bitter pill.
Now here I am, a partially built Marine,
Standing upon a lonely, half-drawn hill!