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Red and Purple and Amber and Black

The winch creaks
Bore more weight than we thought
Day in
Day out
We lift bodies from barges and rivers and reeds

Comrades find comrades

Ache
My arms pull, grapple and pull
 More corpses
  More remains

"Violet Rot"
If their lungs haven't burst they'll overflow with Rot
The water runs red and purple
Red and purple and amber and black

Before we go home the preacher man will spray us down
"Hands to your face!" He shrieks
My face stays buried in my hands
I do not break the shield
Not until I reach home
Down my streets I will walk blind
Not until my feet reach my door

Then I make it: to my love
They wait for me in the dark
They do not look at my Rot
The purple on my knuckles
The purple in my eyes
"No, you will not leave me here."

So we lay

I brace myself to them
I pray not to hurt them, gripping so close
My eyes wide in a purple haze
  In the dark

We lay for days

And when we stand up
  No longer ourselves
We stumble to the river

Still holding each other
   Hand in hand

Drawn to the water
Red and purple and amber and black

We sink in its cold

And then we perish
And then we Rot