Gettysburg

The moon is drifting over this horizon,

But these prairie winds don’t ever go to sleep.

A misty fog of grey hugs the tree line,

Where the wild wolves and coyotes sing.

Battle-torn and weary, they haunt me,

Dreams as dark as my own sleepless nights.

Oh, how I wish I could live,

Where the wild wolves and coyotes sing.

I can see the thunderbolts and fire in the sky,

Men to left and right of me laying down to die.

All this pain and anger can’t ever go unheard,

Heart, soul, and mind, I left it all in Gettysburg.

As these memories rush in to kill me,

This war now rages only in my head.

Bayonets and swords against the words of my Lord,

Where the wild wolves and coyotes sing.

May this song lend ear to those who cry,

Now is never the right time for goodbye.

One final ode to those I hurt,

Heart, soul, and mind, I left it all in Gettysburg.

Author's note: The Battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War. 50,000 American lives were lost in three days. This poem is written from the view of a surviving soldier who is now left wrestling with the aftermath of the horrors of war.

'Fire in the sky' - blood stains American soil

Source: The Civil War Picket