I Bid Farewell Poem by Anita Sehgal

I

Greater than you my Mother,
is my Motherland,
At this hour, she calls upon me
her honour and her name, to protect.
Shall now be put to test, all that you taught,
I know, a heavy heart bids me gone
your blessings, my protective shield.
Grieve not if I am not back
for I shall have written my name in the annals with gold.

To my Dear sister, a brother forever her protector,
a greater calling awaits me.
Your thread of love binds us,
Always
a reminder to safeguard
every honor.

To my young Brother, I say, your time is not yet come
for footsteps mine to take.
When you are grown, many an occasion shall see you torn,
Remember in the pride of the nation your glory shines.

To my Dearest Father, who I idolize,
I am what I am because of you.
Into your big shoes, when my little feet slipped,
since then, your footprints have found my feet.
The stripes on your shoulders swell my heart
Your dignity I may match not but
a promise to do you proud, I take.

And, to you, my Dearest wife,
my new bride and mother to be,
hard to leave when love promised unending.
Pray that I shall not falter mission mine
My vows unfulfilled to beside you
forever in joy and sorrow…
But shed no tear,
for your sacrifice is greater than mine,
for knowingly you tied your life to mine.
Tell my little one of me, whom I may not live to see
That I loved and lived life fully,
Together celebrate my life and mourn not my death.

Here I make a vow,
forever shall I uphold
the responsibility that the Uniform vests on me.
The nation rests fearlessly knowing
that it is we who guard them in their sleep.

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