Book available at https://amzn.in/d/h6FFnRa

He spoke to her of courage,
like the sky exalted,
like the sun undaunted

He spoke to her of conviction,
the kind that scoffs at death,
steadfast, like breath after breath

He spoke to her of love,
unbroken by time’s blow
and true,
like spring,
soon after snow

Stars in her eyes,
saw the stars on his shoulder,
her soulmate she had found,
in the soul of a soldier

He spoke to her of passion,
crimson, like blood,
with kisses that stilled,
and sought,
and stirred

And then,
he spoke no more

He had done his best,
a chest charred with bullets,
they laid him to rest

Sorrow stabbed her,
and fear grabbed her

Her tears began to bleed,
still, she followed his lead

He lay stilled,
but she stood scorched,

From the fire of suffering,
a new meaning had forged

She earned her stripes,
and she earned her stars,
she learned how to salute,
and she learned how to shoot

Not merely wealth,
his bequest was courage itself,

no more the soldier’s widow,
she had become the soldier himself

This poem is inspired by the daring women who joined the military after their soldier husbands were martyred. The heartbreaking scenes of a newly wed wife, her bangles still intact, crying by her dead husband, and then the same woman becoming a soldier, embodying divine Shakti herself shook me down to my core, and this poem took birth within me.

Check out my debut book “Alive – A collection of poems”, at the Amazon link given below!

https://amzn.in/d/h6FFnRa

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