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Poems (Kennedy)/Day by Day

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For works with similar titles, see Day by Day.
4590577Poems — Day by DaySara Beaumont Kennedy

DAY BY DAY
NIGHTFALL, and the daytime's fierce battle
    Is over and done;
Red is my sword, deep red with the carnage
    Of conflicts unwon.

Beaten, discouraged with failure,
    Forsaken, betrayed—
Yet I ask for no help and no quarter,
    I yield neither banner nor blade.

For he who is armed, though defeated,
    May yet hold his post,
And a flag still unfurled is the signal
    That hope is not lost.

And the night is but truce to day's struggle,
    A rift in the pain;
I must keep my high place on the ramparts—
    For tomorrow we fight again.