Some Nights

Dale Gallon's Desperate Valor, 1988 

The sun is setting 

A palette of crimson, orange, and purple 

Gloomy and ominous
Shots fired

The smell of gunpowder permeates through the air
The battlefield already marred with bodies of the fallen

A cloud of smoke

There are footsteps

The footsteps of a stampede

A gradual crescendo

The time is near, the time has come
For one, failure
One step closer to nothing
Turmoil

For the other, glory and redemption, 

One step closer to the cause

A lifestyle 

The troop emerges from the cloud of smoke

Like a stampede of horses

The bright red Confederate flag

Dances with the wind 

The commander spearheads his troop, saber in hand
His face speaks of valor
What does he stand for?

He has lived a life of pain
He has lost everything
His family
His home
His glory 

A life of struggle

All surmounting to this final charge

The chance to bring glory and redemption

To the cause he fights for
To his nation

His troop is ready
What do they stand for?

Each soldier has his own story 

Each a story of pain 

A story of suffering

Fighting for their life

Fighting for the lifestyle of their people 

One solider lost his father to a slave revolt
Another saw his village burn in a raid 

Another saw his closest companion shot by a Union soldier 

Each a different story

A different pain 

A sharp sword penetrating the heart of the soldiers

Behind the troop lies their dead companions 

Those who died fighting for their same cause 

The Union Soldier hides behind the log 

He knows his end is near 

Terrified

Looking around 

He sees the dead bodies of his companions 

What is he fighting for? 

What does he stand for? 

At this point 

He is not even sure

His enemies are fighting for their way of life

But what is he on the battlefield for?

To deny his enemies of this lifestyle? 

The lives of men he will never know or understand?
Turmoil 

His inner uncertainty stings his heart
Maybe this is all a dream
Surreal

What does he stand for?

But the end is near for this lone soldier

He thinks of his family

His mother

His father

His sister

Everything he has sacrificed for them
His mother's tears watching her little baby leave the homestead
His father's tears for his son's bravery and devotion to his nation
His sister's tears as she saw him fade away into the horizon

Their beautiful faces speak of innocence
Their tears speak of pain and suffering
Grief
Anguish
Suddenly
He knows what his cause is
What he stands for 

Suddenly

A sharp pain permeates the soldiers side

He has been shot

The physical pain
Ephemeral
The emotional pain
Eternal 

He hears the sound of the drum for retreat

He struggles to keep his eyes open

The image of his mother's tears flashes into his eyes one last time
He has failed her
The emotional pain
Unbearable
A tear trickles down his coarse chin
Her baby will not come home 

The sun has set