No Man's Land Poem by Mary Champion

Bounded by barriers of fear,
overhung by hatred
and the ever-present threat of death -
this is the land where no man treads willingly.

The rattle and crack of the guns,
the screams of the wounded
and the eerie stillness of the dead -
No Man's land knows all of these.

But once, one Christmas,
the hatred fell back,
the guns were silenced
and the fear suspended
as No Man's land
witnessed a game of football.
Ironically - a friendly.