The Immortals


He won't laugh
The insane laugh again.
You would never see him
Wear that grin,
that actually looked
More 'boyish'.
And I would never have to
Wait for him for hours--
Thought the mother.

He would never cry
In solitude,
In the garage.
He would never
show his Uniform to me,
And the stars he earned,
The medals they gave.
Would not sound proud
At the phone,--
tired but satisfied,
Him and Us--
Thought the father.

And the bell rang.

Behind the doors
Where all assumptions
And anxieties end in the
Bittermost way,
Stood two officers
and a coffin .

Breathlessly
He opened the door.
And She collapsed.
Silent tears of his
Overwhelmed the
Remorseful shrill cry of hers.

And they were handed over
His belongings,
He ,who belonged to them
And the country.
And the pride ,the prestige
--The flag.

Inside that wooden box
Lies a body,
Motionless,with a smile.
Who lived life kingsize
Who denied himself
to save us.

And outside,
Stood four seemingly alive
People.
Motionless,
Confused with agony.

---They are those
For whom dying for is
always prior to living in.
So I salute Them---
The Shaheeds
And His cared-fors
For the pain and the prestige,
For the memories and the honour.
And for the immortality
That They claimed
When it was Their first oath.
When They sighed the last breath.



SoUmY@

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Comments

Usha Pisharody said…
And the bell rang...

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee...

A salute. To Them, The Amar Jawans...
And you.

For a precious, touching, moving Tribute!

Thank you!
Anonymous said…
patriotic, but it puts on a romantic veil on self sacrifice... reading poetry by war poets tears of this idea...
Rukhiya said…
Tribute-so deserving:)

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