I felt a numbness after the event:

A single shot, and this was just a boy,

Barely out of school. He lay, open-mouthed,

And I thought of his family and friends,

His teenage passions, posters on the wall,

His portrait of pride, hanging in the hall.

Suddenly, my mates were surrounding me -

We had blown a hole in enemy lines -

Slapping my back, but I was now alone.

One may argue all’s fair in love and war,

But was this fair? He was the invader:

Yes, I had the right, but, no, that’s not it.

It could have been me stretched out on the ground,

Feeling nothing. Why do I feel nothing?