Delphi

He thought that after accomplishing his task
the right moment had arrived
for his deed to be recorded accepted and celebrated
in times to come
But being so engulfed in his thought of blazing glory
he could not grasp
that many others before him had covered
the great distance between the sword and the city
and that it could happen only once
that the valley of Marathon was conquered
because of that single word that outlives
even his own dust