Rainbow In A Rime Poem by Jayita Basak

Newspapers, televisions, radios rerunning:
‘A dreadful war, India still fighting'
Shut up the telecast and listen to me,
It is not India; but the India Army…

Planning their strategies day and night,
Fighting, losing lives, and making India shine bright.
What are they left with then?
Only the responsibility to protect their terrain.

And suddenly one evening rang up my phone,
He is no more, collect his uniform: said someone in a lost tone.
My eyelids stopped winking, eyeballs almost faded away,
I felt stiff as if he had left me in a desolate trailway.

The sigh of relief had gone forever,
His memories are sparkling just like the shooting star.
Will he hold my hands and sing again?
He won't come back to me. Never again.

Few days ago he returned home like the rainbow in a rime
And swaddled his son for the very first time
Mother fed him like a royal prince,
Father clasped his shoulders and hugged him in bliss.

As we saw him off the day he was departing,
He clasped my hands and said, 'I'll be back in a twinkling.'
Looking at his misty eyes, my tears ran,
He left me forever. He will never come back to me again.

-Jayita Basak