Return Of A Son Poem by Sumann Dutta

They took the boy right out of a my bosom
to fight a war at the far end of the world.
Whose, where, for who were the questions not to be asked;
They said it was warranted by higher authorities.
But when did God want children to fight battles?
May be I am just an ignorant mother,
who prays for her son’s safety.
Where do I look for the signs of cessation,
when the whole world is bleeding to death,
for one reason or another?
How long do I need to wait for the war to stop,
which had started without a cause?
And one day the wait ended.
They said they were sending him back to me
I was elated by my fate and his.
I waited by the end of the road for his return.
They did return, but I knew not whom
They took him as a boy
and returned pieces of a man in a casket.