LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, TENNESSEE
John Horv‡th Jr.
Above Chattanooga
soldiers stand in the smoke mountains spotting
campfires, counting troops that move in the valleys,
and keeping the North, north.
Only treachery untopped the mountain
where tourists idly focus lenses on
the grass covering dead rebels.
If you come late at night one Gray boy
sits on the edge of the precipe
still watching North. Cradling his rifle,
he hums a mother's lullaby.
Do not move too close behind him
for Confederates do not love surprise.
Some Yankees, whose broken bones
have been found below, learnt this too late.
