I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine

Leaning against an old gnarled oak tree
nestled amid this Civil War battle ground
wondering what took place here
so many years ago.
I can only imagine.

I can only imagine:
The whispering breath of death
blowing across the open meadow
where the colors of Blue and Gray,
for a season,
divided a great nation.

I can only imagine:
The hate and violence
that rained down on this field
quilted with vibrant color and life
turning it into a corpse filled river of blood.

I can only imagine:
The sound of bullets buzzing through the air
like a mad swarm of bees seeking a target to sting
as cannons roared
hurling iron spheres of devastation
into the enemy line.

I can only imagine:
The cries of defeat
the hoots of victory in the distance
combined with the pungent odor
of gun powder and death.

How brothers felt killing brothers
how fathers felt killing sons
for a cause each believed in
until they breathed their last
I am not privileged to know.

I can only imagine.