UNDER SIEGE

There were noises around,
The earth then shook,
The engulfing fires
Everywhere you look

The crumbling walls,
The cracking earth…
The tumbling beds,
The shuddering berth.

There was fear written
Across every face,
People lost their way,
In the crowded maze.

I gathered my self
And scrambled out,
I was faced with screams,
Cries, someone’s shout!

Lifeless corpses strewn
Over the streets
The first scene,
Me, which greets.

Flames leapt up
In front of me
Houses came down,
I could just stand and see.

All noises now merged
Into a thundering roar,
I stopped to wonder
What else’s is in store?

The grass looked red,
It wasn’t green anymore,
I touched it, it was
Wetter than ever before.

Through the smoke I strained,
To look at the sky.
I think I saw fighter
Jets flying up high.

I’d heard of the
Coming of the tanks.
The destruction of schools,
The looting of banks.

I never knew,
That one sudden day,
I’d have to face it
All this way

I looked left,
I looked right,
All was marred
By scars of the fight

Then I looked ahead,
Out afar,
I sensed it was,
The coming of the war.

It felt an illusion,
As I stood alone,
Everything around me,
To bits got blown.

I’d heard of battles
And wars of yore,
But I’d never imagined
Such blood and gore.

My eyes were wet,
My throat choke,
Was it the pain?
Or was it the smoke?

Father, mother,
They’d all left,
And I stood there,
Alone, bereft!

Author notes

Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine.... All the visuals that come on the media from these places made me write this. And just 3 days after writing this, serial blasts ripped through Mumbai (India), and it was a feeling of deja vu for me. I dedicate this to all who lose their lives in violence and terror, while they deserved (like you, me or anyone else) to have had a better, longer life.