A brothers embrace

His lifeless onyx gems stare at the winding,
Turns of the riddle that now is his heart,
Explore, Despair to end the hopeless cling,
That will at last complete the once true part.

A being unknown to me before,
Transformed into a toll of gruesome war.
Making me worthless meat for a cocksure,
Clueless, large-bellied warlords play lodestar.

The stars and stripe might return to replace,
Or empty and alone in search of life.
Maybe a thoughtless walking corpse, braincase.
Or a lonely soul, longing for some strife.

But nonetheless, disgust, peril, or grace,
A brother, there beside me again, embrace.