What hath death
brought today?

The mourning of one soul
not far away

From the gruesome grounds
of many a lost battle.

One by one
The brave soldiers leave their earthly lives,
Never to be seen again,
For they close the door on hate and war,
To open another,
Life’s true reward

Yet one lonesome cry
Still echoes in the wind,
“My wife, my dear, not yet shall I depart from here.”

Yes, all but one soul
Take this journey,
For all but one,
Their missions are done

Now this one soul,
His mission not done,
Slowly ascends upon his old town

But the town is abandoned,
The townspeople fled,
All the townspeople,
Yes, all but one.

She silently walks
Down the quiet street,
Never expecting the one
She’s soon to meet.

At last she arrives,
To a place much despised,
A place where the fallen
Are laid to rest

And as she kneels
Before her late husband ‘s grave,

A hand she feels,
His words she hears,

“My wife, my dear,
Forgiveness is all I beg,
Forgiveness for the times
I never listened to what you said.”

Without wasting a breath,
She quickly replies,

“Forgiveness you ask,
Forgiveness I give,
Goodbye for evermore,
My friend.”

And with that
The one soul breathes
A sigh of relief…

Forgiveness he receives,
His mission done,
All that is left
Is to follow
His fellow soldiers
Home.

- Hannah Braun

She longs to hold him
She says he's in a better place,
his suffering, over
Now she is left to suffer
Her tears, drop like rain
Her soul, cloaked by sorrow
Her happiness, only a fairytale
A "once upon a time"
Without a "happy ever after"
She herself a shattered window
Leaving all to see in
Pieces missing from her whole
She falls to her knees
The feeling of the coldest winter
Her tears endless as the Mississippi
Alone in the state of emptiness
Her eyes closed shut
A whisper follows the silence
Saying please don't cry
She feels the embrace
Of the one she used to know
She cries more,
Saying "I love You"
His touch reminds her
The times they had,
The times they lost,
His voice lingers in the air,
With his last words
Whispering, "I love you still,"
"And forever will."

- Tyler Cho

The somber silence of death
over the battlefield
where brothers fought each other,
and died, never to come home

The ghosts of those who fell
never to be calmed
standing next to the saddened widow,
who forever shall be alone

The North against the South
neighbor against neighbor
the battlefield and bodies
remembered by the gravestone

The horror of those years
not wanting to be remembered
and needing to be honored
but through the dark the light shone

Brother against Brother
families torn apart
the brave in the Civil War
never to come home

- Phil Papajcik

I kneel here, the grass cool and wet
Soaked from tears of grief and fret

As the sun slowly sets in the southern sky
I feel your spirit pass me by

As darkness draws nearer, gray and cold
I sense your presence warm and bold

Yet I sob from my heart, my soul and eye
I know you live, you did not die

As I kneel here mourning and long for death
I feel your embrace and warming breath

You went two weeks that seemed two years
Your debt I now return with tears

When they stole your life, they stole my breath
Life is now an everlasting death

Without you, there is no life in me
So I wait for death to set me free

- Abigail Kane

For it has struck again
The dreadful death raven
Bringing Hopelessness, Sadness, and loneliness
Killing all men in sight
Bringing them all to an early grave
Wives, Mothers, and Sisters all weep
All have lost one, once loved
War is what summons the death raven
Once here it is here to stay
Killing all men in sight
Waiting until one falls
Then the raven strikes with full force
Killing all men in sight
perched up in that tall oak tree
Scanning and watching the horizon
Seeing woman come in widows weeds
Nodding slowly to himself
The raven quietly flies away
Waiting for the call of war once again
Waiting to kill all men in sight

- Dennis E DiFranco