Harvest of Death
(Civil War Photography by T. O’Sullivan, 1866)
Raisin-black blood dries on their faces.
Thick wool clothes.
Lumps of bloated bodies
lying on their backs.
Mouths open. Chins
pointing to the sky.
As though blown over backward.
Or turned.
Fingers swollen.
Boots and rifles missing.
Coats and jackets pulled up
exposing gray shirts, bloody underwear.
The sky drifts toward sap green.
No fences. No stone walls.
Copyright Credit: John Spaulding, “Harvest of Death” from The White Train. Copyright © 2004 by John Spaulding. Reprinted by permission of Louisiana State University Press.
Source: The White Train (Louisiana State University Press, 2004)