Toy soldier: The edge of reason
L Thanglenhao Haokip *
In the abode of gods and mothers
The happy yelp of children disappearing
Silence after the storm assail
Guns and bombs they soil the land
'I know I won't be here tomorrow'
Young guns living life on a borrow
Hearts whose warmth an icy red
Little fingers triggering faded dream
Freedom they say comes with the gun
The price they pay ends with the sun
They talk of ideals, of past bravado
But into the future it rings with a hollow
Of hands that rock newborns to sleep
They are now wailing rivers of tears
Waiting supinely for the news to arrive
Often coffins stuffed with conceited heroes
Mother, into your bosom I belong Shield me and restrain me against the ravenous charlatans
If I'd be riding astride the horse of tomorrow
I want my innocence back from the gallows
(To mothers who have lost young sons to pugnacious and insidious recruits)
* Poem written by L Thanglenhao Haokip as published in The Sangai Express . This poem was webcasted on August 01 2011.
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