The people in the army don’t know whythey must suffer at the front, but cannot complainin a country where the emperor is a god, and a generalcan do nothing with strategies from his booksto prevent an arrow out of the dark and the death of a sentry.The rain soaks and disappears into the earthand the poets have plenty to write about,not just about the waiting lover, the lost friend,ducks flying south, monkeys screaming in the rain.The leaders must freeze away from their wives,unable to both pay their men and live as they should.