Nathan Petersburg 

Bay Village, Ohio USA 

Nathan Petersburg has been writing poetry since the age of 21. He uses poetry to convey his feelings, emotions and his understanding of the world. In poetry, Nate has been influenced the most by the writings of the Nashville Fugitive Poets of the early 1920's, especially Laura Riding, and those of the group which eventually formed the nucleus for the Agrarian Movement in the South during the 1930's and on. Besides writing poetry, Nate is involved with Civil War Reenactments with Co. K, 1st Tennessee Infantry, C.S.A.

Homeland

Raw, but evolved like you; yet in defiance
It remains even now. Puts one in a trance
To look on its beauty, majesty, glory.
Hundreds have died here, on battlefields gory.

From warpath to line of gray; morning fog,
Days of rain and sun, heat to kill a dog;
Life, death in the rugged land of the South.
Words of splendor overflow from one's mouth.
Close my eyes to sleep and dream; to be fanned
By a want; live a good life in Homeland.

Willing To Ask

We can't always make sense
Of what happens here hence,
Until time passes by
And we choose to ask why.

Ghost

No tears left to cry
No breath left to breathe
No voice or scream
No words will describe;

But still I'm here --
Conflicts in my head
Searching for the dead;
Frightened by fear.

So many have been lost
But we can go on,
See another dawn --
Though we bear the cost

Of sensing being empty
Without your presence;
But have your essence
Embedded in history.

Whose Standard

Questions on my mind,
The world is so blind.
.No one seems to know,
Do we act for show?

We continue toward Progress,
While we actually digress.
Are the days of old truly wrong?
We rush; but the days are just as long.

As Gnostics and Moderns meet,
I move to a different beat.
while the world says I should do this,
all I want is to feel a kiss.

Is there any pure love?
One as white as a dove.
Love between Venus and Mars,
One that reaches for the stars.

What standard, what girl; it's all blurred,
Whose colors should be unfurled?
There are those who only want fame;
This can't be why God said we came.