The First Line

They told me to stand
I asked where
Here, in this line

Thirty years at sea I lived as a man who was not there
Not being where I was supposed to be — that was my trade
When the king's ship came I had already passed
When the light swung round I was already a shadow
And today they tell me to stand
They tell me not to move
Running is the one thing I learned in my life
And they tell me not to use it

My feet want to move
Thirty years are soaked into them
So I hold my own feet down and stand
This is my first fight

I stood in the first line
I stood in the first line
There is no going back
Because either side of me is a man
I stood in the first line
I stood in the first line
Not out of courage
Because there was nothing else to do

The man beside me does not know who I am
He does not ask where I came from
He is a king's soldier and I am a pardoned thief
And today we are both just a line
His hand shakes. My hand shakes too.
Two shaking hands level the same spear
I will not call this brotherhood
But today I could die beside this man

My coat is heavy
A bundle of soaked paper
Names the sea kept for ten years
Nobody knows they are here

I stood in the first line
I stood in the first line
There is no going back
Because either side of me is a man
I stood in the first line
I stood in the first line
Not out of courage
Because there was nothing else to do

The drum sounded
The line was pushed back
But it did not break
It was not me who held
It was the man beside me who held
And the man beside him
And so I held too
I did not know this before

I stood in the first line
I stood in the first line
For the first time in thirty years
I did not run
I stood in the first line
I stood in the first line
Not because I am brave
Because someone was beside me

The sun came up
The man beside me is still standing
I still have not asked his name