Heartache Of Battle

By Himanshi Jaglan

Tell me, do you not feel that pain so deep,

In your heart's silence, where emotions weep?

Is your heart stone-cold, that people fall in war's embrace?

I see no victors here, just lives in disarray, tell me to my face.

I don't care who's right or wrong in this dire hour,

While you all take sides, in this world so dour.

Tell me, is your self-righteousness worth the price we pay?

Can you not see what this war's doing, each fateful day?

Is power all that matters as you draw the line,

Must you feel so validated, while the world's hearts pine?

Tell me, do you not feel the burden deep within your chest?

For each choice you make, a life's breath you arrest.

Tell me, was there no peaceful path to explore,

Could we not seek a way to end this dreadful war?

Don't you have people you hold close and love so deep,

That losing them would haunt your dreams as you sleep?

This throbbing pain, relentless, it will stay,

No matter how you try to run, it won't go away.

Tell me, do you enjoy this feeling of despair,

This weight in your chest, a cross too heavy to bear?

You, who call soldiers heroes for what they've done,

Would you still rejoice if it was your loved one?

Now tell me, do those who've fallen not have kin,

No children, no families, who weep deep within?

Yes, you may pay them honour, spice their loss with gold,

But can that truly heal a heart, once warm, now cold?

Tell me, is death so easy, love transcends it all,

But was this war worth it, did we need to fall?

You, who command from on high, above them all,

Can't you hear the cries at night as they call?

Tell me, don't you hear their screams of pain,

Do you not sense the loss, the tears like rain?

Tell me, is this war for power, all you seek?

Don't you care that lives are hanging by a thread so weak?

I ask all of you who wield weapons in the night,

Will your heart never question if this is right?

Are human lives mere pawns within your game?

Have you ever looked into the eyes of those you've maimed?

Is this what you call strength, this need for validation?

Inflicting fear on others, in your quest for domination?

Tell me, is this the purpose of our existence here,

To sit above the death of others, as they face their fear?

Tell me, will you never face death's embrace,

Are you immune to it, invincible in this space?

Do you think death will never knock upon your door?

That your bravery and power will keep it at bay, evermore?

But tell me, will you feel joy in the face of another's pain,

To see fear in their eyes while they fight to break the chain?

I'll tell you now, you are a coward seeking power's acclaim,

If you were truly all-knowing, you'd find another way, not this game.

You believe it's all for the greater good, casualties along the way,

They're heroes of war, you claim, as you hide and sway.

The coward, yes, I see right through your facade,

You could never stand where they stood, 'neath a sky so flawed.

You'd be the one quaking in fear, a coward through and through,

And I laugh not with you but at you, for I pity the foolish view.

Tell me, is power about validation, or inner strength so true?

Is it not the wisdom to find better ways, the path we can pursue?

Tell me, is strength in the chaos, sitting upon the dead,

Or is it in the peace we seek, with wisdom in our head?

Tell me, do you not feel the pain, hear the cries so loud,

The agony of children and mothers, in this suffocating shroud?

What heart, what mind, rejoices in such a fray,

Foolish, how foolish to think you're great, when love's the only way.

By Himanshi Jaglan