2001/confed

I think of my
great-great-grandfather
standing there,
his pockets full of
Confederate cash,
how lost he must
have felt.
He sold everything
he had for the
wrong currency.
I don’t know why
to either part.
He never made
it back,
never re-couped
his losses.
His son-in-law
paid to bury him.
My great-grandmother
the daughter
of a fallen man,
I know from
experience
how hard
it is to live
like that.

10/9/01