Atif Lone
The Kashmiri origin poet shares the poem close to his heart with 'Soldier Stories of Kashmir' team on the special day of 15 Jan 21, the Army Day. Couldn't be more grateful.
Bodies battered and minds shattered,
they carried on because Victory mattered.
The heights stay frozen, not with ice,
but by their blood and sacrifice.
Sons and fathers, like you and me,
conquered the peaks and set them free.
Too many did we lose, too many did we bleed,
but they cared not for their own need.
Fight they did till their last breath out,
without a question, nor a doubt.
Tear-soaked letters did their families receive,
written a few hours before battle-eve.
Each letter has a story to tell, each word worth its weight in gold
O how lucky they are, If only they could be told.
Because the son came later, after a lag
enclosed in a coffin, draped in the Flag.
Forget them not, nor their deeds of yore,
they must be made a folklore.
For it is the least we can do for those who died,
with the flag in the mind and the rifle by their side.
Bodies battered and minds shattered; they carried on because Victory mattered..
Happy Army Day
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