Are We Truly Alone?

Are we truly alone?

Do we stand in the breach

Untouchable, irredeemable,

Each in his own prison,

Thinking of the key?

Where are the ones who fought with us,

Lived with us, died with us?

Vanished like ghosts in the morning sun,

This sun beating mercilessly upon us

As we stand by the side of the road.

There was a time when we longed to see the sun

To escape the shadows of night.

Now we flee from the sun,

Seek refuge in the shadows

Cast by the tall tall trees

Alone, with only our sweat

And grime and tears.

But no blood.

Our hands are dry of blood,

But still unclean from sweat and grime and tears.

They said it would be better without blood

But now they are gone,

With no blood to show that once they were here.

Where is our companion, our Comforter?

When we look up at the night sky

And contemplate the universe

Is there anything there to contemplate us?

We can scream into the shadows

And it’s good that we can,

But our screaming only echoes,

Never finding a home.

The sparrow finds a home

But we are not sparrows

We are only strangers

And sojourners in this our own land.

We carve our names on the surface of history

But we don’t belong there.

Others will carve their names,

Never knowing we were here first:

Finders keepers, losers weepers

In this valley of tears.