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NOT A CHILD'S PLAY

The young man at the signal under the sun,
Was selling the little toy soldier with a gun.
I asked my seven year old cousin, “What do we call him?”
“Terrorist!” she said, without looking grim.

I regretted, for a second, asking such a question
For a second, I looked up to the heaven!
How do I explain, to this little girl of seven,
The difference between the two men in question?

I pointed at his uniform, “A soldier, darling”
He protects us from terrorists, that’s his service.”
Of that uniform, seemingly taking no notice
She immediately asked, “So, whom is the terrorist serving?”

I wanted to explain that terrorists serve nobody!
That it is just another form of insanity!
How do I tell her, “They serve their God”?
“You shall be punished by God,
If u hurt anyone in action or thought”
Is what she has always been taught!

How to answer such a question
In such a bloody world
Where one wakes to the fear of killed in a blast
Thanks God at the end of the day if he does last!
Where terrorism and corruption
Have become the golden words
Will we ever see the day when we will say
He is just a gunman with which children play?

Comments

  1. *sigh* its beautiful.. i can actually feel the desperation and frustration leaking out of the poem.. u r mad when u said u cud do better.. no. this is the best nir..

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  2. thank u... n please excuse the silly typing errors

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  3. mast hai re....u didnt tell me abt dis poem!!! lovely as usual!!!u really make me proud everytime....:)

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  4. a very complex issue put in the simplest words as possible..... extremely original and thought provoking!

    ReplyDelete
  5. thank u tasu :) yr comments really matter :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very thought provoking..simply and subtly put forth!

    ReplyDelete

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