Requiem

(A soldier's funeral song. Dedicated to the brave hearts who not only choose this path of valor & sacrifice but also lay down their lives selflessly for the sake of their nation & fellow men.)

He braved the fear of not returning ever
He shed his qualms of living in danger
He went ahead for the pride of his soul
He marched to his country's call


He watched in guard while we slept,
He starved in wars while we ate
An honor he thought of that task
To lay aside comforts for his duty's ask 


In the lap of heat & fire 
He fought by his men sans tire
Bullets in, bullets out
Grenades drowning every shout


Shredded skins of hands he'd shaken
Shut eyes that'd playfully teasen'
Still figures in traps of smoke
A phantom he'd become in one stroke


He moved ahead, in time of retreat
He refused to lay low on cowardice feet
Oblivious to his mates' urges
Pleading to return to secret lurches


How he ran into the enemy citadel 
A message - his country will not fail
He left behind all who cared
He'd sworn a thing & that he dared


Today we gather in his memory
We've nothing but to sing his glory
Those salutes of guns will matter
They will thunder in his greatness for sure


But what'll go on for ages
Written in history's golden pages
Is the act so uncommon
Living a life from his loved ones forlorn


The story of his life
Shines in the tears of his wife
The patriot's reign,
Courses in his toddler's vein


I walk up to the lady
To give her a Panda teddy
A gift her man had bought
To welcome their child he'd sought


Then I hand over his letter
Unsent & meant for her
She stares at it for a while
Suddenly she sees the smile


Their child is giggling
In her mother's arms he's jiggling
Like a message he's conveying
For the departed he's acting


There lies my friend, my savior
A man who was born to be a warrior
While we mourn a patriot's departure,
Let's hail the victory of a soldier