on the third day
did Longstreet and Lee
order forward
their seminary line
across stark open ground
to wrest hold of
that aptly named
cemetery ridge
Pickett fixed on a copse
overstanding a jog
in a fortified wall
mad rebel yell charge
under crossfiring shells
hails of minie balls flew
from the flames shot by
Springfields Enfields and Sharps
just a few gray-sleeved arms
reached their sabers
to breach the blue wall
but were quickly repulsed
from this high water mark
this sharp bloody angle
confederacy
forever receded
From my book Bullets from Bones
Poesy plus Polemics 