Poem: word challenge

haikujaguar has started challenging folks to write a poem or story based on the week's "words of the day". I originally posted the poem here: http://haikujaguar.livejournal.com/969737.html. This week's words were lenity, cerement, yataghan and adamant.

I'm reposting it here to "keep" for my own records.

Facing Death

They took the noble man,
And wrapped him in cerements of sheerest linen.
They placed beside him
The yataghan with the silver edge,
And placed upon him
Armor devised with adamant scales.

Thus they dressed him,
To face the demons of the underworld
That plagued the country
In spite of pleas for lenity.

Perhaps the sword
Would be the better argument.