Guest Blogger – Katherine Gotthardt

Jan, thank you for hosting me on your blog!  You are a true advocate for the literary arts and a wonderful asset to Write by the Rails!
Below is a poem from my collection of Civil War themed poetry, quotes and photos, Poems from the Battlefield.  I hope at least some of it resonates with your readers.
In gratitude, Katherine

The Red Flagged House

You say you are here to protect us,
the man-less, the son-less, the tepid wives
wafting through misused rooms of our
home-turned-makeshift-hospital.  But
the divan is upholstered in wounded,

dun rags stacked on our armoire,
gauze, iodine, ammonia, spirits following
the hems of our dresses.  “We cannot fit
one more!” we cry.  But you are deaf with war.
“We have nothing left to give you!” we

wail, but the moans of our warriors bury us
in bandages and heat rash and fungus.  Our dresser
lies on its back, an oaken cot for Confederates,
our maple table forced to feed soldiers to surgeons,
and everywhere, blood of our bold and our young

re-paints our wood, our walls,our memories.
We shuttle torn uniforms from what was home
to hearth, stir some in our soup cauldrons, burn others
to stay the fire, the fetid smoke of our torched ideals
and stained coverlets greeting each new casualty.

You say you are here to protect us, we your women
who don’t want war, we who try to heal hurts,
scouring basins with our old lace, sucking up sweat
with our linens, mending the last blankets we own,
and asking, “Who will protect us from you?”

copyright 2009, Katherine M. Gotthardt