What Lewis Did Last

The smoke from the battlefield drifted away As Corporal J. Lewis deserted the fray He ran from the bullets, evaded arrest He told his companions I must get my rest He told his companions I dream every night The faces of men I've dispatched in the fight Their shades will approach me as I lie so still They offer their hand but they wish me no ill They're shaking their heads now at something they know For there is another who still haunts me so Her name was Naomi, her life it was brief She was plain, she was homely and destined for grief She coveted riches, believed in my prize She fell to her death, in the water she lies There were no farewell kisses or tender embrace She was guilty of something beyond avarice She entered the waters and down she did flow But they gathered her up and it troubles me It's not the account of her pitiful death It's not her last pleading for her final breath But when I consider how she once beseeched me Her face has no features, her tongue has no speech So I'm here to tell you what Lewis did last Ahead of the firing squad and trumpet blast He broke through the glass for a lock of her hair He dug up her grave but the coffin was bare