An Ode to Kyiv

By Purva Mhatre Shah

https://youtu.be/WT-E9FM3Pik

It was just another day in the year of the Tiger,

And the world had just regained its spirit of survival,

Racism and Sexism had found their graves,

And families and friends had found their ways back together again.

But then it happened like a flash of light,

And suddenly the skies were filled with pellets and fire projectiles,

The humankind burned that night,

It was the city of Kyiv in plight.

Unheard cries of pain were felt across the world,

The hearts of millions cried with tearless guilt and burn,

The need for a universal endeavor seemed urgent,

But the rulers seemed caught in the righteousness of their own kingdoms.

Fair that is, why invite a perilous doom?

On your people when they stay away from the gloom,

On the happy households and profiting trades,

But is that what you will do, when your own nation is at stake?

I don’t stand for one country or another,

And I very much respect the fuel and coal to make my bread and butter,

But sometimes I wonder, what history will I tell the children of the future,

Why no one stood up to the massacre?

Will I say I had no voice in the world of powerful mortals?

Or will I say I was a mere commoner?

Maybe I would not tell, for my shame and guilt would conquer my words and inaction,

And for the sake of peace and love across the globe,

Sometimes I wonder, would it be wise to erase this time lightning and thunder?

But would it be fair to forget the cries of the children, the desperation of their mothers?

Would it be fair to forget the unsung warriors who fought for the land of their fathers?

While the world watched waiting patiently for it all to be over.

Yes, for the people in trouble,

But also, for their own guilt to be over.

Yes, the world has come a long way ahead,

But the sense of humanity still needs place in the minds of young kids and their friends,

For tomorrow needs to be a world of peace,

With love, humility and respect for kind deeds.

Today might be cruel, but there will come a tomorrow,

The realization might come with grief and sorrow,

That what we had, although imperfect, was not shallow,

And what’s left and can still be preserved for a better tomorrow.

By Purva Mhatre Shah