Stalingrad - a Villanelle

by E.D. Kain

A girl in grey, a boy in soldier red;
the dust of summer blurred to winter snow.
The two in pirouettes, the lovely dead.

A star of scarlet rests upon his head.
A sepulcher for children dug below.
A girl in grey, a boy in soldier red.

They marched like toys beneath a child’s bed,
And fell like boys all strung out in a row.
The two in pirouettes, the lovely dead.

They gathered men and boys alike and wed
their wintry eyes with bullets to the snow.
A girl in grey, a boy in soldier red.

She barely slept, though winter was in threads,
and summer woke to darkened streets of crows.
The two in pirouettes, the lovely dead.

The guns like rapid drumbeats filled their heads,
The streets dyed crimson, almost seemed to glow.
A girl in grey, a boy in soldier red.
The two in pirouettes, the lovely dead.