TO THOSE WHO DIED & THOSE WHO SAVED
& THOSE WHO ONLY STARED……

If not for you,
I would have never known
How Courage transforms men
In times of greatest fear.

If not for you
I would have never known
My country’s real Heroes
Who care not for their own
But save the lives of men unknown.

If not for you,
I would have never known
The shamelessness of men
who watch the burning show
as if it were a thing
that happens now and then.

If not for you,
I would have never known
A servant’s true loyalty,
To save a two-year old
From horror, none would ever know,
Had she to run alone.

If not for you,
I would have never known
How 21 year olds -
The worst of Frankensteins -
Could pulverize a modern world!

If not for you,
I would have never known
That the managers of Hell
Have spread their tentacles
Into our daily world –
“No place is safe no more”

If not for you,
I would have never known
That killing one another
In the garb of religion
Could seem so meaningless
When terror strikes –
which has NO religion.

If not for you,
I would have never known
Unity can still prevail
Amidst the people of my land
If only one would have
Leaders like once upon a time.

It is to YOU
O’ soldier in the uniform
and even ‘sans’ a uniform
that I pay obeisance, and cry
with humility and also pride
and say :
“MERA BHARAT MAHAAN”

        -Monica Aurora.
         29-11-08