Emancipation

A breeze rustled through the tall grass

Laced with acrid smoke and the putrid

Stench of courage clashing with reality

As he laid there gazing at the Heavens.

The old porch that squeaked and groaned

And the bark of the dog in the tobacco field

As the songs of endurance and hope pierced

His confidence in righteous providence.

With such zeal and bravery he had packed

His haversack and grabbed his bedroll

To defend his way of life and home

Against the aggression of zealots.

Where was that manly courage now

That he had simmered down and

Faced the reality of his warped

Perception of freedom and equality?

Out of pride and refusal to admit fault

He had marched up through the Valley

To meet the flood ordained by God

Sent to quell the earth of its sin.

His unwittingly fervent brothers

Survived the day and carried on to

Victory for their disillusioned cause

Doomed to suffer righteous justice.

None would be spared from judgment

In life or in death for their treason

For generations to come and they would

Stubbornly adhere to ignorant pride.