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Unity At Appomattox
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US Civil War Poetry 
In great respect of each other,
North and South collided once more,
this time in peace.
General Lee in his crisp gray,
with polished boots and sword.
General Grant in his worn and field-dusty blue,
yet just as distinguished as the Southern General.
Both, two of the greatest soldiers
this country has ever seen.
In Appomattox,
a small house encompassed these large men.
Large in their knowledge, bravery, pride and courage.
Two Generals, of opposite sides,
sat at a small table, making small talk.
Grant, almost as though putting off the inevitable
for a brief time more,
perhaps in an effort to ease the sadness and grief
of Lee and what he was about to do.
Lee, in his southerly, Virginian style,
reminding Grant of the task at hand,
perhaps so as not to prolong his sorrow any longer,
or that of his men.
Articles of Surrender, read aloud,
papers signed,
hands met in a grasp of victor over victim,
'defeator' over 'defeatist'
Yet done in such a manner never seen before or after,
in a time, such as was,
General Lee's surrender to General Grant.
Both sides,
representing North and South,
joined together again,
a country so brutally divided.
Both colors,
blue and gray,
joined together again
as countrymen, united.
To ever again divide,
would be a great dishonor
to what those two great Americans
accomplished that day.
To ever again divide,
would be great dishonor
to those men who's bloodied bodies lie prone
on battlefields,
or those brave men who survived and went on
to rebuild this country once again.
Let no man,
no cause,
no mission,
no hatred,
ever again divide us as a Nation!
To do so would dishonor all that we have strived for,
all that was fought for,
all that was lost,
all that was gained.
Picture it as it was...
those two great Generals,
enemies,
sitting together in that house in Appomattox,
one beaten, the other respectful and un-gloating,
bringing back together what was so shattered
and broken,
proving, that even in defeat and surrender,
can there be honor and dignity.
An utter testament to the strength of unity
and freedom that this country was built upon.
