Tulips in the Graveyard

Whispering willows speak
to the night, buried in
the grave.

Land where
once tulips grew lie
barren.

Chirp of
birds is silenced by
the sound of bullets.

Man dies fighting for
vain cause. They lie
murdered in their attempts
to become martyrs.

Sighs of widows and
bereaved mothers make
the trees sway at night.

Nocturnal animals lurk
as man kills man in
the name of jihad.

Dead bodies rot in
a world turned into hell
by their jest to adorn
the heaven.

The cause of God is best served
by erasing tears from
the eyes of the suffering
mankind. Instead they
make man suffer.

Agonies apart let the
world unite in peace.
Let tulips cover the
graveyard. Let us dig
no new grave to bury
the young.

Let nations
join hands to erase poverty
and humiliation that
man suffers from the
hand of man.

Let there
be a world where no
soldiers roam to
keep peace.

Let children
play in the streets that
turn into battle grounds
where baton-wielding
policemen thrash stone
pelting protestors.  Let
clashes be a thing of
the past.

Let civilization rise
from the ashes and
proclaim to the world
that God had created the
universe and Man has
made the world.

Pranab Ghosh is an award-winning Indian journalist and writer, who has worked for major news outlets of the country, including HT Media Ltd., Eenadu Digital, TNIE, Business India group etc.. His books of poems have been published by English and Canadian publishers. Read other articles by Pranab.