Lazy poets try to elicit a reader's response with words designed to tug at the heart.

I will not say I am sorry, but I can tell you that I grieve.

But if you couldn't do everything, did that mean you did nothing?

One man sees a riselka: his life forks there.  Two men see a riselka: one of them shall die.  Three men see a riselka: one is blessed, one forks, one shall die. One woman sees a riselka: her path comes clear to her.  Two women see a riselka: one of them shall bear a child.  Three women see a riselka: one is blessed, one is clear, one shall bear a child.

The military preferred - invariably - those who could be readily defined, assigned roles, understood, and controlled.

The deeds of men, as footprints in the desert. Nothing under the circling moons is fated to last. Even the sun goes down.

Men made wagers with their judgment, their allegiances, their resources.