Good people died,
Survivors hardly thrived.
Loved ones soon perished.
And peace became cherished.

People chose not to use their mouths to speak.
They didn’t try to turn the other cheek.
Instead they spoke with weapons: guns and knives,
Each time someone spoke, Americans lost their lives.

The nation became divided,
But Lincoln knew what had been decided.
The north believed in abolition,
The south felt slavery was a tradition.

The fighting brought tears and anguish
This was something people couldn’t simply vanquish.
Americans were supposed to become one,
And all of their dreams were coming undone.

Gunshots were heard everywhere,
Where ever one looked, they saw despair.
The first shots were fired from lame decision,
But the last were going to have more precision.

The North and the South wanted their rights,
Each of their arguments ended in vicious fights.
Lincoln said “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
He was right; America was becoming a divided land.