Northern boys. Southern boys.

Just boys.

Black boys. White boys.

Just boys.

Somebody’s brother,

somebody’s son,

somebody’s sweetheart.

Just boys.

Cold, hungry, bleeding,

longing for home,

childhood or eternal.

Just boys.

 

*I wrote this with some friends upon visiting the spot in Nancy, KY where Gen. Zollicoffer was killed during the Civil War.