Pluck!

Commune, growing, side by side, one for all
 Bonded by burden and responsibility
 Years spent in pattern
 When one should fall
 Another will rise
 When times were worst we stood firm
 And held up the weight of the world
 Strength in numbers bound us closer as one
 In unity
 Then, a change. A shadow. A beast. A claw comes forth
 Hesitates, we knew not why
 It strikes, it had taken aim
 One of us taken hold
 Their tight grip was broken and sent screaming into the sky
 Those closest to them, fear had left them frozen
 Only could reach out and cry
 Another victim chosen, seemingly at random
 All that could be thought was why
 It felt like hours to watch them suffer
 How am I still here? Our numbers have narrowed
 So much, it's so wrong, unjust, and cruel
 What have we done to deserve this fate
 I could not imagine why I was not chosen
 How I had been spared from this
 Was I set aside for when the thing returns
 Or was I left as someone better?
 Who had the right to choose?
 What had set us apart?
 If the aftermath had answers
 I could not bear to search for
 The pain and loss too much to take
 Those closest to them, fear had left them frozen
 Only could reach out and cry
 Another victim chosen, seemingly at random
 All that could be thought was why
 In due time the beast came back for us
 One by one uproot the ones we love
 Somehow I remain a witness
 Pluck!