Soldier

My eyes are wide open

to watch the flag rise high up in the sky

and my neck doesn't hurt at all

Did I ever want them to shut?

I'm afraid to see the tricolor

draped over my body

I can't hear my mother

muttering curses at the suicide bomber

and my father mourning

My wife would wipe her tears with the corner of her sari

and sing my baby to sleep

'Papa is sleeping. Don't cry, you'll wake him up".

The couples walk hand in hand

celebrating love on Valentine's day

Have I ever imagined roses showering on my coffin?

I fight enemies in jungles

and sub zero temperatures

when the whole nation is asleep

I don't get to watch my little girl grow

inch by inch, everyday

but only witness the massive growth of terrorism

Along the border lies our lives

firing bullets in every direction

unaware of the moment when death attacks us from behind

My brothers are not afraid to die

but failing to protect our country

is what we're scared of

We preach peace

Does it mean we are weak?

We can blow up bunkers, destroy enemy bases and what not

The river of blood would flow across the border

deaths of innocents would be avenged

and we will not retreat nor surrender

I have a story to tell

a story of a soldier

who died a martyr

Who wished he could end violence

who dreamed of receiving awards

on 15th August

and vowed to remain a patriot forever

My hands don't pull the trigger of rifle anymore

my legs no longer ache

but my soul is still breathing here, a sacred land

In every hand that salutes

In every child that shouts "Jai Hind"

In every mother's longing for her Shaheed son

I am alive