Tears of Gray
John Clare Stokes
In my every solemn timid step
I hear their measured determined cadence
The awful thunder in the far Olustee distance
I move aside and bow my head in respect.
Standing alone in the charred out palmetto
Looking through the piney woods smoldering
Mine eyes alone the ranks of gray beholding
I follow from afar with the ghosts flowing.
To Ocean Pond we shall come to meet the invaders
The cannon raining cones upon us rebel yelling
The Pileated fleeing with the yellow- bellied
Keeping apace with the boys a drumming.
A leap of ember and a sudden reeling
Why have I followed these gray wraiths
Cowardly I tremble behind a loblolly safely
Musket and grape shot the bark peeling.
In the aftermath on the quiet Osceola glade
Eyes stinging from the sulfurous choking
There stares an artiface rigid in the smoke
Tears of grey an ascending sacrifice made.
No comments:
Post a Comment