(War of 1812)
 
What lights prelude the sleeping dawn?
That the heavens compare to flickering fire flies
‘Tis ladies with lanterns searching embattled ground
Where grows rows of soldier-dying cries
 
Each flame of hope, encased with doubt,
Is carried by a trembling heart
And leads her step, despite thought’s distress
That her beloved’s soul did yet depart
 
The rise of morning’s shroud unveils
Each lantern by a corpse now extinguished in glow,
And a wife, who was but a day before
Now dons the tears and mantle of a soldier’s widow
 
Artwork was created in 2013.