The bells rang;
it was graduation day at West Point
A young
cadet stands on the steps of the Commandant’s quarters
Adjusting
his sleeves and tidying his trouser legs, not wanting to disappoint
He stepped
into the room and gave a nod to the porter
He snapped
to attention and gave a salute
The
Commandant acknowledged and spoke to the boy
“Congratulations
Cadet, you've been a fine recruit.”
New gold
bars presented in a box, his alone to employ
The years fast
forward to a time of great division
Blue against
grey; brother against brother
States
secede, citizens revolt, clearly not a moment of indecision
Talk of
civil war had blown through like a souther
The young
soldier from Texas joins the grey coats
Thousands of
ill-supplied Confederates march to battle
Diplomats
bicker while young men slash at each other’s throats
Families on
either side losing their chattel
Battlefields
made of farms, houses and churches destroyed
Blood-stained
ground greeted the soldiers at the hill
Bouncing
cannonballs and musket fire he wanted to avoid
His duty to
Texas and his oath to his academy he did fulfill
Here lies
the body of the young soldier near the Dunker Church
His
brothers-in-arms continued defending their position by the creek
It was the
bloodiest day of the war, a monument now rests on a perch
Here lie
thousands of soldiers in ‘Bloody Lane’, the landscape seemingly bleak
©Ashley Yarbrough 12/2012
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