Oh that calm sea

the cliffs of England near distant

perpetual lull

of incoming tides

sand and pebbles dance

if you listen

you can hear

that eternal note of sadness

coming eventide

In this vast, northern sea

emanating in shadowy depths below

that which Sophocles knew

the bane of human misery

washed from The Sea of Faith

salty tears shed

and in all the world

those paltry lands of dreams

absent are joy, love, light

no help for all that ails

and out on that darkling plain

those ignorant armies still clash

and separate the world we have

from one that might have become

Trapped at Antietam

There you are

enveloped in mists

on that sad, beautiful battlefield

far removed now

from that bloodiest day

in history

attacks, counterattacks

tragedy at Sunken Road

armies flank out

to the right

to the left

Lee stoically committed

dug in there

a cold hillside indeed

bullets strewn

over bridges

into hedges

through Miller's Cornfield

under the shades of night

fragile shadows bowed and tended

to the sick

to the dying

shore up the lines

one more time

make a stand

as fettered out to you

by men in top hats and coats

one more round

before the wounded army

gathered south of the Potomac

the Proclamation was written

its time to take down your flag

your cause was unjust

now mourn that boy there

the one that is trapped

inside those mists

who lives that battle

for all eternity

"I felt this way in my past

a Maryland September day,

I may not ever come back

but I gotta be brave."

Boy Photo: flickr.com/photos/krysthopher_woods

Cannons Photo: Pixabay