No Man's Land Poem by Alice Lupin

Gasping in a sea of wonder that no living words can meet
I stand before my lord and shepherd with lifelong weary arms
And no count of steps these weary feet
have walked across this shapeless land
of silhouettes and screams
And while I walk I ask myself
Why them instead of me?

I once would have called
called in anger and in fear
in loathing and in weeping
in this godforsaken place
that has called me friend and keeper
In this place that haunts me still
Why them instead of me

By the abyss of these waning years
I could not force myself to see
On these fields littered with their promises
Resting so vivid with their plea

I hang my head in shaken sorrow
For I can still not bring myself to see
Why was it them who would not see tomorrow
Why them instead of me?