All across the nation
This week’s most compelling story
Is abuse of statuary
In a way that’s statutory

I was raised as a New Yorker
But got schooling in the South
And I’d heard that it was dif’rent there
At least by word of mouth

Then I found, to my amazement
There were still intense debates
That the fight not be called “Civil”
But “The War Between the States”

We would argue on the motives
From which these distinctions stem
But it’s clear the differential
Meant an awful lot to them

They would tell me stones and markers
Stood for lives that each state gave
Representing valiant soldiers
Souls who’d never owned a slave

Still I marveled at the statues
That were neatly kept and fenced
Standing in the nation
That those men had fought against

Then I did a little reading
And I gave a little thought
And I tried to learn the lessons
That the Civil War had taught

So much pain had been inflicted
Not a family was spared
Then we somehow reunited
In the sorrow that we shared

So they put aside the hatred
And they put away the guns
And agreed that in forgiveness
We could honor all our sons

They may have been mistaken
And it might not have been right
But we should not change their minds
By staging riots in the night