Aurora Over Northern Virginia

I gaze up and see the bright green aurora Slice through the night over Northern Virginia. My feet burn like charcoal from every little mile I ran over the fields that fed me as a child.

Our homeland had become a nation of hurt By the curse which bred starvation from dirt. The whisper of death found a worthy enemy In a surplus of corn from the land of the free.

With age came ambition, so we decided to leave, But it was a game of roulette that no one could see. The chamber was full, with no fortune to spare; The ships were the fingers and life was the barrel.

We were pried apart in a twist of fate, Sent to a country divided by hate. Once in the past we were basically family; Now we are cavalry, infantry, artillery.

As I ran under fire up that long green hill, You stood at the top and aimed for the kill. And as you fired your shots from behind the wall, I saw my comrades beside me fall.

We continued to charge, you continued to massacre Like a garden of roses in the middle of winter. Soldiers by my side with clovers on their hats Screamed up at the sky, then collapsed to the grass.

Finally we stood fifty yards from each other; The artillery above just kept roaring like thunder. Facing the music and dancing under fire, I didn’t even realize I was aiming at my brother ‘Til I felt my index finger clamping harder on the trigger, And that’s when I realized we were killing our own kind: As I saw your blue eyes which somehow still shined And I tried to find the slightest sign Of recognition. But then our whole brigade was out of ammunition So we all turned around, still trailing the green flag, As your comrades kept firing their rounds at our backs. We were brothers killing brothers, Irish killing Irish, When all we really wanted was our freedom from the English. I still hear your voice from all those years ago: “Pain is just a friend, death is all I know.”

So now you’re amongst the faithfully departed Taken by angels to a river of spirits. I gaze up and see that sliver of heaven: The bright green aurora over Northern Virginia.