A plea

There was a time…
There was camaraderie
There was laughter
There was bonding
Between man and man

There was a time
When they sat
Around their meals
Thanked their ‘god’
And broke their
Bread together…

There was a time
When they cried
And laughed,
Lend their shoulders
And held each others’ hand…

There was a time…
Their house is now
‘for sale’. Their broken
Unused car stands
In front of the
Locked gate of
Their crumbling hearts…

They are all gone.

The shells burst…
The noise shattered
The peace of distant
Villages too. But…

There was a time
When bullets did
Not pierce wind and hearts
In such frequent intervals.

There was a time
When shells did not
Murder peace and
Put an end
To life, love, living

Can we not get that time,
Our time back?

Pranab Ghosh is a journalist, writer, poet, translator and blogger. His blog is “Existential Problems”. His poems and prose have been published by several on=line publications including Dissident Voice, Spillwords, The Piker Press, Setu Magazine, Pangolin Review, Visual Verse, etc. Pranab has coauthored a book of poems, titled Air & Age; a translation of a book of Bengali short stories, “Bougainvillea and Other Stories” (English translation title). His second book of poems and first solo book, “Soul Searching and Other Poems” (2017), was published by Scarlet Leaf Publishing, Toronto. His second collection of poems, “Vision of the World and Other Poems”, was published by Impspired.com in November 2020. Read other articles by Pranab.