The Battle of Oxford

For one hundred and eighty years
The Boers and the Rebels fought wars
For one hundred and eighty years
The Boers and the Rebels fought wars
Bloody and broken. Between gaps
They would rest, and blood would spill out
Upon the grassland’s ruby clay 
Of the African bush. Back, forth
They would wound and maim, and so kill
The Redcoat and Boer Warrior’s bled.
On the final salvo, after
Many years of slaughter, the Boers
Took one last push into Redcoat
Lines, yet the Redcoats repelled them
For they were refreshed by a moment’s
Hesitation from the Boer lines.
Fifty-One hundred Rebels slain
And Fifty-two hundred Boers lay
Dead upon the open plains, heaped
Into their rows, where the dead lie.