HE DIDN'T COME BACK FROM THE BATTLE

Why is everything wrong? Yet it seems just as fine:
The same sky, just as blue as before;
The same air, same water, same forest of pine -
But he didn't come back from the war.

Now I'll never find out who was right among us
In our disputes, without respite.
Only now I find I miss him because
He didn't return from the fight.

He'd go suddenly quiet.He would sing out of tune,
And his voice had a harsh kind of rattle.
He would keep me awake, then he'd get up too soon -
But he didn't return from the battle.

The loneliness isn't just all it's about.
I've just realised, we two made a pair.
It's as if the wind suddenly blew the fire out,
Now I know that he's no longer there.

Bursting out, as if from captivity, Spring
By mistake I call out for a light
"Friend, a smoke" but only the wind answering
Yesterday he was lost in the fight

Our dead will not leave us behind in the lurch.
The fallen still guard us forever.
The trees reach aloft like the nave of a church -
But my friend will return to me never.
 
For us, space in the bunker was plenty enough
And together we watched time's flight
Now it's all just for one, but it feels like a bluff
Feels like I really died in the fight.