To Recover a Stolen Heart

A bandit seized my heart one day,

And locked it in a case,

This bandit stole my heart away,

She used her pretty face.

No hand on knife, no fist on hilt,

I laid my weapons down,

Disarmed myself and let hear steal,

My love without a sound.

She took it all, a theft so cruel,

She stripped me to the bone,

In place of what was once a jewel,

She left my soul a stone.

She fled, my thief, when fed her fill,

No love, no hate, no guilt,

To leave my life to crumble down,

Dissolving, wind-blown silt.

And now I sob and grind my teeth,

My soul burns in despair,

For there she lurks, she torments me,

Is pain too much to bear?

Recover love, my only task,
I seek to find my heart,
Discerning truth, to run it's tracks,
No map, I use no chart.

Eternal search, a blessed curse,
To seek what I can't find,
I know that you had loved me first,
Your love is true and tried.

You show the way, you write my course,
Can you my heart restore?
Surrender my harsh grief, so coarse,
Soft love I now implore.

Excerpt from: "James Longstreet: The Controversial Leader" by Andrew Dawes

By early December, 1862, Lee’s Army of Virginia had firmly established itself on the high ground surrounding Fredericksburg – just southeast of the town itself and in sight of the Potomac River. Acting with complete consistency of character, Longstreet ordered that trenches and fieldworks be constructed behind the city. However, the most recent Union general, Ambrose Burnside, who was perilously determined to capture Fredericksburg and thus prove himself capable of command, confidently assumed that he possessed enough sheer military might to wrest control of the heights away from Longstreet’s forces. Suddenly, at 3 a.m. on what had been a temporarily peaceful night, any false promises of silence were shattered as 150 Federal cannon simultaneously opened fire on the city’s buildings. Windows crashed. Walls were shattered. Fire spread through the streets. Before sunrise, General Longstreet rode out to inspect his troops. The blue-coated Northern army had begun crossing the Potomac and was entering the burning town. Meeting General Robert E. Lee on the way to the Confederate position, Longstreet slowed long enough to listen as Lee promptly warned him, “General, they are massing very heavily and will break your line, I am afraid.” Longstreet brusquely replied, “General, if you put every man now on the other side of the Potomac on that field...and give me plenty of ammunition, I will kill them all before they reach my line” (Wert 221). Never have truer words been spoken. As the Union ranks charged from the cover of Fredericksburg’s charred bones, the huge guns on Lee’s Hill spewed grim fire down the slope. Those few who reached Longstreet’s fortifications were halted by a hail of deadly musket shot. Cooly, Longstreet and Lee gazed out upon a scene of unimaginable carnage, as line after line of navy blue was crushed amid the deafening roar of artillery. Only the trickling groups of wounded, who sought shelter, were left standing; within a mere thirty minutes, over 1,000 Yankees lay dead or maimed upon the bloody slope. After General Burnside finally called an end to the slaughter of this ill-fated attack, Longstreet was able to leave Fredericksburg satisfied, because the painful wound inflicted on the Northern foe had come at the expense of relatively minor Confederate losses.

The Homebound Soldier

The wound is deeply wrought, and I,

Will never see the day,

Can I, so young, be meant to die,

Upon this foreign clay?

A crimson stain spreads o'er my chest,

My eye begins to glaze,

I pray to God to grant me rest,

And hold me in His grace.

I hear a voice, not loud, not clear,

The dark is closing fast,

Again, again, it screams "He's here!"

And, then, I hear my last.

He holds my hand, the Shining One,

White messenger from God,

He says my life has just begun,

And lifts me from the sod.

The gates are wide, a golden home,

With golden streets I trod,

I bow as I behold a throne,

Behold! The Throne of God.

"Dear soldier", He addresses me,

"Your mortal fight is won,

I grant you leave, now taste and see,

the glory of the Son!"

Song for a New Day, Gerald Peterson - Performed by Andrew Dawes

The Covenant

A pledge, am I, strict contract,

Both shackle and sweet reward,

Bind the lover to stern pact,

For she is his, he is hers.

Captive, they submit their troth,

Freed birds, they wing o'er new love,

Hark! Fools, do not make God wroth,

Covenant honored above.

I signify pure, true love,

Lacking room for other hearts,

Chastely joined by God above,

Man and wife should never part.

A Limerick

There once was a stout lad named Herm,

Who stomped on a slippery worm,
He cried at the sight,
Shed tears for a night,
But nary a twitch nor a squirm.

Claire de Lune, Debussy - Performed by Andrew Dawes

Storm

I bear the weight of oncoming thunder,

I hark the voice of an approaching storm,

Pure white, stark flash tears dark skies asunder,

Deep notes shake frail bones as never before.