For the Vote

Bayonets and cannonfire

Raged with unsurpasséd ire.

Brother and brother, foes not friends

Fighting and falling, rips and rends.

And when the dusty fog did clear,

Bodies littered and stench in the air,

A generation dazed and shocked,

Honor tarnished; fraternity mocked.

The forgotten dream of reunion,

Realized in flawed communion.

Can we rebuild, can hope be found?

A shining city on bloody ground.

And yet as chains dissolve and fall,

New bonds are formed, a soothing salve.

Slow and steady, crafting anew,

Economy and welfare stew.

Thirteen, Fourteen, where is the next?

To give them voice, lest we forget.

Seventh decade of that century,

A milestone for liberty.

“The vote, the vote!” ebon throats do gloat,

While the fools do cringe and mope.

And the fairer sex doth loose a roar,

“Where is that clause, that ‘furthermore,’

Which our suffrage should ensure?”

Alas, alack, the cry unheard,

‘Til Great War the world perturbed.