A Poem of mine from the latest Our Poetry Archive

   My wife Pam and I spent some time in August visited nearby Musgrove Mill Revolutionary War battlefield site. It is a South Carolina state park There were some major battles in the final phase of that conflict here

such as Camden and The Cowpens. And there were dozens of other skirmishes in a conflict that put neighbor against neighbor. 

     The vitriolic state of affairs known as the 2016 Presidential Election got me to wondering if we might not be headed toward something similar. Our Poetry Archive ws kind enough to publish it this month. A long-term dear friend, Carol Worthington Levy, posted it on Facebook, as did a newer friend, Jane Crooks Britt. you can see two other poems by me, and many more by other poets at: 

http://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com/

REFLECTION ON MUSGROVE MILL AND TODAY

Along the Enoree’s banks, Musgrove Mill

lies among the Piedmont’s pines and hardwoods.

On a sultry, long-ago August day

Loyalist and Patriot joined battle,

neighbors and kinsman clashing, Scotsmen too,

blood flowing on green-ringed forest meadow.

Now rages renewed warfare all around

in cyberspace, chatrooms, and face-to-face.

Everyone a combatant now, none are spared;

Tarleton’s Quarter appears merciful.

Friendships severed, relationships broken

not only here but from coast-to-coast.

The Republic for which for which the victors bled

unravels like a second-hand overcoat.

Arthur Turfa, ©2016