Earthen Urn Poem by Chandra Shekhar Dubey

I gathered the ashes
from the cold pyre
Smeared them on my forehead
sprinkled on my body
and rest gathered in the earthen urn to set afloat in the Ganges
running across valleys, villages, cities and green patches
where animals eat grass
and lie to sleep on patches.
Whose ashes were these?
The ashes of the brave soldiers
who lost their lives on duty
in a Naxal attack?
Or some loved one?
Or soldiers bravely facing
the enemy's bullets? .
Whose bodies are torn
and have hundred patches?
They are blessed persons
whose self and soul are immersed in the love for country?
I salute them whose sacrifice
reminds us-
of countless troubles and death
so that we could live in peace.

Chandra Shekhar Dubey