The guns may not be booming here any more

But the icy winds blow, just like before
Making an eerie high pitched howling sound-
Could these ghostly shrills be emanating from beneath the ground?
Where several soldiers lie in eternal but disturbed sleep
As on their graves there's no one to offer prayers, lay flowers or weep!
It's tragic that while they fought valiantly and fell, none of them had known
That in the end, their dead bodies would be abandoned by their very own-
On whose orders they fought and did die!
And their dead bodies would be left exposed to the sky
But this is exactly what happened as we all know
On the desolate mountain tops in Kargil many years ago!
Today, some swear that in the howling winds they still can hear
Voices of the forsaken dead querying their Generals loud and clear-
As to why were their dead bodies disowned and left behind
And how could an army towards its fallen be so callous and unkind?
The dead say, “As true soldiers we died on the battlefield, and as such-
Was expecting our bodies to be brought back home, asking for too much?”
But some say that the piercing winds carry a message from those buried there
Expressing gratitude to their enemy for showing due respect and great care
So even though giving a last embrace to the departed they never got
What lessened their grief and emotionally helped them a lot,
Was when the deceased’s kith and kin came to know
That their loved ones were given a dignified burial by their foe!
[While winds carrying messages of the deceased is the poet’s imagination
The outrageous act of an army leaving behind its dead, is no exaggeration!]

Nilesh Kunwar