26/11-the black day

26/11-The black day

Mumbai had never seen a blacker day

With an attack aimed at its heart

The very ripples of the attack

Tore its very fabric apart

Cowards of men sneaked in

The deathly silence of the night

And then marched, killing innocents

Coming within their sight

Taking Mumbai as hostage

Thus holding it to ransom

Striking terror, their motive

In a fashion most gruesome

But our men in uniform

Mobilized and rushed to the city’s aid

From the constables of the police force

To the commandos of military grade

They engaged the cowards for days

With the city standing still

Waiting with baited breath

As it witnessed the gun battles

One was taken alive

And the others were taken out

And their lives and deeds

Would be forgotten about

Courage triumphed over terror

Albeit at a cost

With lives of bravehearts

And innocents lost

But they did not die in vain

Unlike the cowards they fought

For even in times of darkness

Unity among us they brought

Now six years have passed

And the memory of that day lives on

Lest we forget the sacrifices

And the lives that were laid down

We have grown stronger

And it is time we proved so

Terror will never get away

And its time this it knows

The Woes of a Star Gazer

I searched the sky for those countless stars

That once adorned the night sky

Millions of those sparkling wonders

Open to the naked eye.

I am a star gazer

And I stare at the sky so blue

For this I am a fool

And I have a message for you.

Those stars, the residents of the sky

Hang out from an inky blue dome

As their neighbours try to reach out to them

The ones who call Earth their home

But now they remain hidden

With a handful rarely in sight

Masked by dense smokescreens

And outdone by the city lights

 And now it gets only worse

With nights that look like days

Those twinkling stars so hard to see

As if they were spirited away.

But they are very much there

We just have to clear the haze

And dim a little those city lights

And resume our star gaze

 For now also the visible moon

Searches the night sky

For her companions who

Beyond our ignorance lie

But it is a problem difficult to solve

And it continually grows

Along with it increases

A star-gazer’s woes