The idea was to shoot two cannon balls
Linked with a heavy chain from two cannon
At the same time.
Screaming across the battlefield, they should
Sweep a path of destruction through the enemy.

This is real.
The two cannon did not fire at the same exact instant
Thus the first ball described an arc around the second, chained,
Killing all the friendly people standing within a twelve-foot
Radius of the black guns.

This really happened.
The concept was sound, even elegant
But synchronizing two distinct forces cannot be achieved
Without a single purpose, a single gun,
A single vector.