Stand and Deliver
(Pickett's Charge July 3rd, 1863, Gettysburg)

"March on young men!
Destiny awaits you.
The sun shall shine on you today!

All the world shall
embrace your valor!
Heroes of the day, all of you.

Steady boys. Steady!
Show them your bayonets today boys,
baptized in their crimson tides!

Do not yield this fated day to the last of you!
Cause has ridden hard upon your purposed backs.
You stand today for all Virginians!

Against an enemy not of your choosing
but of your fellow countrymen principled
the plunder of your homes,
your lives, your rights!

Fear not the cannon-fire men!
Embrace it only as you turn them
upon desperate faces and yellow backs!

Unleash Hell upon them all boys!
By blood and breath
fury shall reign on this field before you
at the hands of the Virginians!

We shall have ourselves the day boys!
And the night? Of sweet rewards.
Give them mercy at the slash of the sword!

Let the thunder of the cannons speak
loudly to them that they may understand
the resolve in which Virginians defend our
honor and our homes!

This day of reckoning is upon us
chiseling the minutes of the day,
the record of our cause,
and the registry of sacrifice
upon the alabaster stone.

Fall not with your backs to them but
charging them in defiance
of their great trespass!

For old Virginia boys!
For old Virginia!

Your deeds today shall echo into history.
Your finest hours awaits you!

March on boys!
March on!
Meet death
and cast him aside!

Do not despair.
Rejoice in assured victory here
and now upon this desparate field.

And, through it all remember
that you are all Virginians!
That they cannot dispel!

Now, stand and deliver boys!
Stand and deliver!
Give them the bayonet!
Let them know you are Virginians!

For old Viriginia boys!
On the double-time!
March!

Charge!"

"For old Virginia"
echoed across the field
into eternity ...as promised.

They were, all of them,
heroes of the day.
now chiseled into that alabaster stone
...as promised.

"General Pickett, form your division."

"General Lee sir, I have no division."

Copyright, Kevin V. Reese, 2004

Wow, Kevin! This is just magnificent, really! Your historical poems are my favorites, and they are just exquisite. I think you are a far superior poet to me. You've just got to do a book through Lulu, Kevin, seriously; it would be great. I think this genre, these military-historical poems, is your great strength. With me, it's sonnets. But this is your "thing," here, and I don't think anybody could do it better. I guess my strength is my perfectionistic formalism, which is not for everybody, but that's what I'm good at; my style reflects me, and your style reflects you; your military experience and study of history stands you in good stead and makes you really know what you're talking about. It's like they said of Jesus: "He speaks with authority, and not as the scribes." You truly speak with authority. I want to encourage you in every way possible, because I truly believe you will end your days as a great poet. I believe that with all my heart. I will bet you one of those Corsicana fruitcakes that you will be a great poet.

Hey, have you seen the expanded edition of my book yet? It really is nice now since the format is all organized so nicely, and also the covers are really pretty with Silke's mermaid on them. By the way, she is not doing well; I am so scared. Please, please, please pray for her, will you? I know you pray, and I implore you to pray that she get well. She is just as sick as a person can possibly be. I just got off the phone with her, and it's really bad right now. But she's sweeter than ever. I don't deserve her, not at all. It's all a miracle... which gives me hope that maybe we can get a miracle for her, and that she will get well. It will take a miracle, I'm afraid, but that's what we need, so please pray for one, and I will too.

You're really something, Kevin. I'm terribly proud of you, terribly proud to know such a great poet.

Please be encouraged, and get a book together. Publish all you can. This particular poem is just a masterpiece.

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. Do you know what that means? It means, "where there is kindness and love, there is God." You have always been so kind to me, and I will never forget it.

AD ASTRA PER ASPERA (You know this one: "to the stars through difficulty" The motto of the great State of Kansas, where my Grandma on my mother's side came from.)

+Steven,

You have always been a great inspiration and friend to me. Any success I encounter will surely be on the wings of a +Fellow Poet if you know what I mean. It has been your encouragement as a large contributor to my writing endeavors. I have been published in numerous places because you encouraged me and drove me to improve myself and submit the damn things. you reminded me of what my Pop once said to me. "If you ask a thousand girls to dance, one of them's going to say yes." I keep thinking I will do the book but then I keep adding to my manuscript. I am closing in on 200 pages. I have not seen the new version of your book. If you remember I bought the first version. Since then I have been on a "budget" of sorts (I know you can relate). In better times perhaps I can purchase your book again; the newer one. It is not out of my sights. I will pray for Silke. It appeared that you two had a spat from the catching up on the posts. I hope all is well with you two. She inspires me as well. All in all you two make a successful team for me so don't mess it up +Goofball! My computer has been down for quite a while. I had 12 spyware things on my computer and a trojan virus that cost me my hard-drive, 200 bucks in software, a new modem, and all told, 6 weeks of Hell! But my system is back up, clean, and better than ever. And, I didn't lose any of my writing, my family pictures, and only a little of my ancestry research. Blessings to you my friend. Keep your faith and keep replying to my writes - it's what drives me to better myself and my writing. You have delivered me to the world, my friend. Thank you beyond words.

Kevin

That spat thing was totally my fault. And, boy howdy, are you right about not messing it up! That's exactly what my daughter Maria tells me, and you're both right. I don't want you to think I didn't like your other newly posted poems; I am on the phone with Silke a lot tonight and haven't gotten to read them yet, but I will. I'm so glad to have you back with us again here.

I also had a virus destroy my hard drive and cost me 200 bucks, by the way! That was horrible. Come to think of it, that has happened to me twice now. But I think I have a good firewall situation now, so I should be OK.

Please do pray for Silke. We really need a miracle.

Thanks so much for everything. I should just send you a book, but I have to buy 'em too, and I've got two more birthdays here on the horizon, so I'm a little short these days too. I'm especially a little short when I stand next to my son Stevie!

Keep up the good work. You're really doing great.