Alone

Alone
Youth in war-scape
Bombs, falling planes
And troops not much older than me
On their way to meet bullets.

Alone
So alone it cuts deep
Cauterised by others’ death,
Live out, dead in covered lorries
Back but oblivious.

Alone
I grew up with
Now I know its name
And in a feeling, a hurt, so much ache
While little moves.

Alone
What now?
I try to know
Maybe enough knowing is enough.
So be it
Who isn’t alone?

Uncollected/unpublished poem, © The Estate of John Fairfax 2011, from a private recording, used by permission of the author's Estate.

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