Look Across the Trench

Look across the trenches at the soldier in the other uniform,
See his helmet, see the cross, see him runnin’ through the fumes,

Feel the grenade of responsibility in your hand and know,
What you’re about to do will be or not- the death of your home,

You do this under the love of your nation and family,
But think of this too where’s the love of reality?

On the other side they’re shellin’,
Bombs hit the ground but nobody’s tellin’,

The leaders, the generals, it’s their war not ours,
Make them fight for the fight and leave us out,

But then he’s on the other side and your orders come,
Jump the wall watch em’ fall decapitate some,

Army medics chillin on the ground sleeping like the dead,
Ha,
What an earful, wave goodbye, go and get ahead,

See the holes in the ground and listen to the drum of the land,
Know it’s on the soldier he’s got death in his hand,

Advance on the enemy,
Know it’s not your enemy,
Yet you run and you take their things like he’s you enemy,

Trench through trench, jump through jump- empty your magazine,
Watch them fall like flies their wings are stuck in the screen,

Suddenly,
What you see,
Makes you flee,
But you can’t,
It’s your brother on the other side,
Let it fly,

Your heart goes out to the french on the west,
Your cousin, your sister, your brother on the trench,

A stalemate between hearts and hearts that can’t love,
Feel the pin in your hand, when it’s brother and war the latter comes above,

The weeks fly by as we try to pass the time,
Got lice in our hair, boots are full of grime,

It’s time to take leave, leave the front line of despair,
Take the train back home feel the wind in your hair,

Then you realize that home doesn’t exist anymore,
The love of your family so forlorn,

You rip up your books and break your feather bed,
Grieve for yourself as your dad asks about the dead,

The dead friends, the dead leaders, the dead brothers,
Not just on the west but on the the east even further,

Home will never be home and suddenly you remember that place
The time with the child on the other side, his uniform, his face,

You know war has killed you as you walk and breathe,
And you know that your home as burned down as you rake the leaves,

Silence becomes your only friend it seems,
And yet this child, you’re only nineteen.

by Alice Crown, 16, Seoul American High School, South Korea