Battle At Shiloh

Southern soldiers entrenched in blood and death
Musket-balls fly into the moist clay sod
Mirage, bog fog covers corn rows in field
Piney, birchwood forest-field of Shiloh---

Confederate cannons christened by rain
Straw-stuffed scarecrows and parched ones stretched in pain
Rebels invade the hornet's nest  
Bayonets clash in this Sunday skirmish

Behind the church is Shiloh cemetery---
Brass bells playing with the French coronet
Cannon balls pulverize poultry pigeons
Below the barn loft, dying soldiers mingled---

Infantry have fallen, buglers call charge
For stars & bars, faded Union flag torn;
Medics carry cloth cots and field dressings:
(Mini-balls can inflict a big exit hole!)

The crow watches from a picket wood fence
Shellshock wounded soldiers can rest at dusk
The dark, conniferous forest protects
All life is hushed. The place of peace. Shiloh.

The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.