Let Me Die In The Crossfire Poem by AtreyaSarma Uppaluri

Let Me Die In The Crossfire



[In the context of cross-border terrorism in India]

Certainly I want peace
Who doesn't?
I don't want my country
To go to war.

To shake hands for peace
It takes two.
But if it is spurned by the other
And war is forced on my country
I don't want my soldiers
To feel alone as a secluded lot
Engaged for death
For the sake of a society
That lazes about
In its selfish circles.

I'd like to go to the front
And put myself at their service
'What can you do at your age? '
'Anything you bid, anything you think I can,
Oh my dear sons and brothers,
My dear cousins and nephews'

At least I can be a buffer
Against the crossfire
To save a precious soldier or two
On our side.

Let life be meaningful
After all 'Death closes all.'
Let me do my bit for my country
And let me die for my country.

'Enlist everyone
Above eighteen
And below sixty
For a military stint
For a couple of years, '
Some of my compatriots demand
With nation's safety in their heart.

'Why this discrimination, ' I cry
'Patriotism has no age bar
If you limit the age
It's no longer Military
It'll be Limitary

'Don't praise me as a martyr
After my willing death
Nor brand me
A jingoist while I'm alive -
I am a simple patriot.'

[Jan 12,2009: : Hyderabad - 500 056]

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
AtreyaSarma Uppaluri

AtreyaSarma Uppaluri

Hyderabad, AP, India
Close
Error Success