On Ground Cut Small

It was my wish before this all began

That the generals felt our pain and rode off

In the night when we were so sound asleep  

We could not arise and begin our fight

Once again, once again, on ground cut small.

Surely great leaders know when troops weary,

And though spirit bound by bronze and steel, they stand

Where tomorrow finds them a new home beyond

The bounds not of steel or bronze defining them

As one, in what they never were nor want.

My wish so sorely slashed by fear and pain,

Generals by small men retained again,

And love turned to hatred again in flame

As my home falls to the depths of grief,

Golden only in defending itself.

Golden only in defending itself.

But now a song is sung I wish were new,

Yet began seven centuries ago, 

When fire and metals blended for weapon 

And tool in kiln of concrete kept secret

To survive in the desert that goes like this,

  

The highest steeple in the greatest land

Is no larger than the pettiest man.

The highest steeple in the greatest land

Is no larger than the pettiest man.

Once again, once again, on ground cut small.    

© Dennis Wright, 2018

Unburied Dead on Battlefield ~ Hanover County, Virginia
June, 1862
Civil War stereograph
DeGolyer Library collection, Southern Methodist University
from Wikimedia Commons