He lay there where the moorland ends
So silent like a child fast asleep
Yet, lifeless like forgotten friend
With a promise he forgot to keep!

Why a cow despairs her longlost calf
All mothers share the same ethos
“I may not return” he had said with a laugh
Nameless who lay under pious cross!

A martyr’s pride rots with his bones
Alas, too far from his mother’s lap
Why a nation loves and then disowns
Calling his death, “One more mishap”!

Neither mine, nor yours, so don’t we care
For the child who lost life’s rhapsody
To save us from fear’s future’s nightmare
Who sold his todays, WHOSE SON WAS HE?

© 2023 Vikas Chandra