Of all wars civil wars are the most ridiculous

Brother against brother father against father

I have fought in many of these wars

Some dating back to the sixteenth century

I have been wounded killed or listed as missing

During many of these insane conflicts

But I have always written poetry

The poetry of these civil wars

At present I am in exile in the South Seas

It sounds romantic and to some extent it is

I have tried to paint or compose songs

But I always return to my tired pen

A friend has given me a book of poetry

Poetry from the American Civil War

I can recall many of these poems

As I had the pleasure of meeting some of the poets

Frequently I collaborated anonymously with them

Like all wars this was a dirty filthy war

And I can remember helping good ladies

To bury both the Confederate and Union dead

The slaughter instead of inspiring my poetry

Silenced it for many years and it only reappeared

In my final years in Spain as I lay in hospital

After being executed for no real reason

I vanished shortly after that and was soon forgotten

Until I appeared here in the South Seas some years ago

I found I had a history a wife and considerable property

An angel told me that this was all mine

If I committed to an eternal exile on this island

And fought in no more wars

Be they internal or external

Or just imagined in dreams

God loved me I was sure of that

But he was far from pleased with me