Athena of the steel-grey eyes and steady gaze,
goddess who sees the battlefield entire, who knows
each soldier on the field, who whispers
in each general’s ear, who hears each one who sits
at home and waits for word with hope and dread
and desperate prayers, I call to you. Athena,
a world at war is a fearful place, a place
of pain and woe, a place where all we understand
turns strange and terrifying, where all we know
of life and love is cherished all the more. Athena,
goddess who knows well of war and all it creates,
hear my prayers, hear the words of one whose faith
in you is full: I trust in your wisdom, goddess,
I trust in your righteousness. Athena, I trust in you.