Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 6, Number 1. May 2023. ISSN: 2581-7094
A Prayer by Afghan
Women
--- Sagar Mal Gupta
Give
us love
not
war.
Give
us flute
not
a gun.
Give
us freedom
not
imprisonment.
Give
us sensitivity
not
cruelty.
Give
us flowers
not
blood.
Give
us ointment
not
a wound.
Give
us compassion
not
hatred.
Let
it remain a country of Rumi
not
of Changez Khan.
You
live in peace
Let
us live in peace
and let the whole world
live
in peace
free
from peddlers
of
terrorism and violence.
Listen
to the azaan
and
be a messenger of ahinsa and peace.
Ukrainian War Heroes
--- Sagar Mal Gupta
“I
need ammunition not a ride’ Zelenskyy
Uncalled
war on Ukraine by Russia
Gun
fire
Gun powder weeping
at
destroying her own relatives
Cruise
missile attacks
Deafening
sound of explosions
Heavy
bombardment by tanks and artillery
causing
darkness all around
except
the ray of light coming from the bombardment
Odor
of dust and gun powder
Closure
of air space
Destruction
of runways
No
trains
No
buses
Shortage
of food and water
Helpless
women and children
Women
soft targets and great sufferers
Millions
run to the borders of
Hungary,
Poland and Slovakia
Out
of panic
Take
refuge in bunkers of
schools,
hospitals and train s
A
faint ray of hope
flickered
amid the chaos
Baby
born at a bomb shelter
A
picture of Mia’s soft hand
gripping
her mother’s went viral
A
video purportedly showing an unknown citizen
trying
to block a Russian Military Convoy
had
gone viral on the social media
reminiscent
of Tiananmen Square’s ‘tank man’
blocking
Chinese Forces in 1989.
A
Ukrainian soldier blew himself up
to
destroy a bridge in a bid to stop
Russian
Tanks from moving forward
Hailed
as a hero.
An
Indian girl refused to leave for India
because
she did not want to leave the old woman
and
her two children in the lurch in the face of the ruthless war.
A
merciless aggressor can conquer a territory
through
force and violence
But
win over the hearts of the people
with
a far evolved approach that can come with
knowledge,
compassion and empathy.
Horrors of Ukraine War
--- Sagar Mal Gupta
Standing
before her devastated house
Erica
is weeping bitterly
at
the loss of her house and property.
She
remembers vividly the first day
when
she came to this house.
She
cannot forget the flowery touch of lip-lock
of
her husband and how she swung on the orb
of
his stout muscles of arms like a ripened fruit
against
the arc of the branches pushed by the strong wind.
They raised their children, Borski and Natalia
lovingly.
They
wanted them to become a doctor and an army man
But
alas! Their dead bodies lie buried in the rubble of the house.
A
house is not just a structure of
sand
, grit , cement and mortar
but
a nest of caring , sharing and loving.
All
her dreams and memories
lie
shattered in smithereens.
Dictators
of the world do not realize
War
means the destruction of houses
Decimation
of utility services and industries
Devastation
of innocence
ideas
,dreams, culture and knowledge
Death
of Leo Tolstoy, Gorky and Chekov
Nobody
loves war except the war monger
because
his ego is sky high and ocean deep.
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