Winds of Fortune

The flag in my dream flew on a hillside It had colours that fluttered in the breeze I heard someone cry as bullets flew by While the west wind whispered in the trees Ihad heard about an old gypsy woman Who would tell of one’s fortune on demand With a sense of doom, I went to her room She told me to sit down and took my hand ‘There’s a flag that’s flying on a hillside I see colours that flutter in the breeze The year Forty One, a battle not won While the west wind whispers in the trees’ In Forty One I fought for my country And I was proud to wear my uniform But cried with fright in the heat of the night As the battle raged like a thunderstorm And our guns were roaring on the hillside We had the opposition on its knees But a swift riposte made us count the cost As the west wind whispered in the trees We retreated to our wooden compound With artillery firing from behind We had left it late as we slammed the gate But we couldn’t shut them out of our mind And our flag was flying on the hillside And our colours they fluttered in the breeze Our cannons replied and their front rank died As the west wind whispered in the trees They prepared to set ablaze the compound And called to us ‘Surrender or you burn!’ But we all cheered as the Seventh appeared It was then the west wind began to turn A battle is not won until its over After all that’s the nature of the beast Our cavalry attack then drove them back As the wind came howling from the east