Every chiseled name here is
a bullet dripping blood
a skinned face
a bruised heart
a quagmire
of raw emotions
a breath of trauma
a life martyred: real but mythicized
What could I do
but lament and bow my head
to a life lost
* I visited the National War Memorial on October 2, 2019 – 150thbirth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi an apostle of non-violence. The names of soldiers who lost their lives during the armed combats are inscribed on the memorial walls.