For his Family's Honor(2)

*This topic was given to me, and I ended up writing two separate poems. It's based off of several old Japanese woodblock prints.*

For his Family's Honor(2)

For his family's honor,
a young samurai once fought
the boar, whose tusks shone with blood,
and he won.
His great and mighty fists
demolished the beast's
thick, dense skull.
His parents were proud.

For his family's honor,
a popular samurai once fought
the giant snake, whose fangs drained life,
and he won.
His impressive gun
turned the serpent into
white rice and red bean paste.
His countrymen were proud.

For his family's honor,
a great samurai once fought
the nine-tailed fox, whose magic cursed him,
but he won.
His long arrows
pierced its golden fur
and closed old, mischievous eyes.
Japan was proud.

Ill and forgotten,
an old samurai no longer fights,
preferring to sit beneath his cherry tree,
a haiku
his last grand deed.
Watching rocks grow and petals fall,
with little pride he takes his life
for his own honor.