Washington br Crossed the Delaware in the dead of winter br Icy, churning water br Cloaks holed, hands riddled with br Fear br Boys too young to know a lady’s kiss br The black night covering the pass of br Cannon over farmland br Hope of revolution hanging br In the balance of a fatal morning br Daylight creeping over sleeping tents br The drunken celebration of a Christmas night br Dulling the wits of the crack-troop Hessians br Half-clad in their beds br Murdered without warning br A motley fusillade of rag-tag musket br Bewigged officers scrambling for their pistols br Screaming for order out of the chaotic blast br br -of Liberty- br br The plunge of a pike from a shopkeeper’s hand br An American sword br Stabbed with defiance br In American soil br Refusing to be bloodied br With American dreams. br br br (Previously published in The Odeum, Jan.