Long Antietam Poems

Alone I arrive, walking from Frederick
over the gaps, across gentle hills
out onto a knoll
overlooking this burnished landscape.
Before me I see countless writhing rows
of indiscernible shapes gathered
in terrible rituals mid fire and smoke
darkening the sun.
From distant...

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Thank You For Your Service

“Thank you for your service."
How many times have I heard that.
Do they know or understand?
Do they really care?

I fought at Bloody Antietam,
Shiloh, Gettysburg and Franklin.
Blue and gray, makes no difference.
Casualties measured...

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The haunting strains of "Ashokan Farewell" keep racing thro' my brain.
'Tis a fitting requiem for those who bore the agonizing pain,
Of bidding a sad farewell at many a humble cabin door,
As young men were called...

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All is serene tonight along the banks of Antietam Creek.
'Neath the brooding moon, the battlefield looks so bleak.
Bloodied ground was hallowed on this dire September day.
On the field this night, six thousand slain heroes lay.

Six...

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Antietam

I lay in the creek my face to the ground
My hand on my musket, I pray I’m not found
The bullets were flying, the soldiers were dying
Antietam; the battle’s begun

I fired on the troops as they...

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Salute

Bunker Hill, Yorktown, Lundy’s Lane,
Monterey, Bull Run, Gettysburg, Shiloh,
Antietam, St. Mihiel, Belleau Woods,
D-Day, Saipan, Iwo Jima, The Bulge,
Chosin Reservoir, Pork Chop Hill,
Ia Drang, Khe Sanh, Hamburger Hill,
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Famous battles in American history.

Washington, Scott, Grant,...

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They held the field, men side by side,
Their will intact, their fears subside.
They mustered in so many fields,
And held the ground, refused to yield.
At Lexington went toe to toe,
With British troops, a worthy foe.
McHenry saw...

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I never studied the downed limbs before Sandy. 
I was savoring the muscle burn from herringboning my way up a hill or fretting over a ping in my back, the price of macho competitions in...

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(Battle of Antietam, Sharpsburg, Maryland, September 17, 1862; 2,100 Union dead, 1550 Confederate dead)



the day September seventeenth
	in eighteen sixty-two
found stalks of corn in Maryland
	grown high as horses' heads
while rebel soldiers clad in gray,
	invaders to this...

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I fear no man nor any man's intent
I am not afraid of fire or of flood
The Devil can keep his phosphorous scent
And I am not moved by another's blood

I pride myself on having a brave...

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Down a strange road, they are guided by an unknown force.
These misplaced souls are all journeying on the same course.
All of them have undergone intolerable strife.
To them, this trail started at the end of human...

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A man whose eyes seem distant and cold
takes me on a journey through history
with thoughts of wonder and interest
leaving me with more questions than answers
   about his life, his dreams
there's a profound sadness...

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When the wind is just right,
I can close my eyes and 
pretend I'm in Middletown,
pretend I can see the Blue 
Ridge Mountains off in the 
distance with the haze that 
gives them their name.
Farmsteads, hundreds...

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Antietam Creek, Maryland

Antietam was fought on Maryland ground
at the foothills of Appalachia.
There McClellan, Lee and Jackson were found
with troops from Potomac and Virginia.

McClellan shrewdly, saved some of his men,
while Lee sent the entire army forward.
Does...

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