Blue and Gray

We face each other. Each day the distance between us grows shorter Sweat and fear drips down my face. Another day surrounded by the stench of spent powder and death To my left, caissons move the cannon into place Made ready to do today's bidding, silencing life at random I count my rifle balls, each designed to kill my brothers Like me, struggling to survive another day, mired in despair Why did it come to this, the hate, the destruction, the finality We are but men. We fight, we bleed, we weep Freedom the cause, all men created equal. Die so we shall live I try to swallow my terror. I am not alone. You can smell it We are not born to war. We are not brave. We are simply driven I've seen too much. Fingers of death ripping us apart Fragments of lives left strewn across so many fields Yet I live. Am I the lucky one, or are they who no longer hear the cannon A small boy, hollow eyes, old beyond his years, stands with his drum Every beat calls another soldier to the field. steady, like a dirge I'm so tired, my body and my mind both broken Will I see another sunset, or will my war end today Which brothers will I join come tomorrow. . 11/15/2011