Tributes to a Martyr

This poem is dedicated to the "International Men's Day", which falls on November 19

***

It was at this time a year ago, the city of Mumbai stood still

As a group of terrorists invaded it, with a mission to shoot and kill;

They entered the Taj hotel through the back door

And shot their way up to the upper floor.

From this position they kept all the inmates hostage

And didn’t allow the security guards to get any advantage;

After the initial confusion, the police force lumbered to the place

Only to be greeted by a stream of bullets as a coup de grace.

The arrival of the crack commando unit of the army was a boon

It had a young officer in charge of a platoon;

He surveyed the scene and decided that attack was the only way

Even if it meant it could be a premature end of his day.

He raced up the stairs throwing caution to the wind

To locate the terrorists holed in room like a fiend;

He found them and targeted them one by one

But in the process took bullets too many, before his task was done.

His body lay sprawled in a pool of blood, his hand still holding the gun,

The terrorists were all dead and the battle had been won;

The ordeal of the hostages over, they heaved a sigh of relief

Their survival was a miracle beyond their belief.

This young man became a martyr of a noble cause

Though yet no memorial craves the people here to pause;

Stoop! Angels, spirits, hither from the skies

There is no holier place on ground than where such valor lies.

The whole nation salutes this worthy son

Though his aged parents have lost a child, their only one;

They spend the evening of their lives awaiting his call

Alas! It’ll never come, whatever may befall.