SOMETHING I LOOK AT-40

SOMETHING I LOOK AT -40
BY-SMRUTI RANJAN MOHANTY

I have not seen a war,
more than I have seen it
in the consequences of its devastation,
years after the war,
in the crumbling relics of
fallen dynasties,
in the wounded ego of
vanquished nations,
in the blood and tears of many
for whom the war was
the biggest nightmare.

I have not seen a war
but I have seen it in the
sad and gloomy faces of many,
in their agony and apathy,
who are just alive  to
shed tears and  curse their fate
till they are here

I have seen the war
and its horror,
in the sad panorama of human beings,
in the devastation of ecology,
in the poisoning of the environment,
in the silent murmur of mother earth,
in broken homes, in broken hearts,
in a life that is no better than
a living hell.

I have seen the war,
heard its poignant melody
in the cry of those who silently
witnessed and endured it.
I have seen it in its relics,
the human beings, diseased and defeated
who lost all that is precious in life
but are still alive
having no life in them.

copyright@smrutiranjan18.5.2017