Unusual Homecoming

   

                                          UNUSUAL HOMECOMING
                       



                                    Home he did come that ill-fated day,
                                     But  none had thought the way he did,
                                     All wrapped up in the solemn tricolour,
                                        Sure symbol of ultimate honour.

                                     Truly it was the most befitting honour,
                                     For a braveheart so  bold  and daring,
                                     Who put himself at stake without fear,
                                      To ensure that the nation doesn't suffer.
                                                                                                                                                                                                            Devotion to duty was his prime concern,
                                     Fighting till the end to foil the attack,
                                     Paying  his flesh  and blood as the cost,
                                     He set an example of supreme sacrifice.

                                     The strike having been foiled  now,
                                     The guns are silent  for a while,,
                                      But the sounds of anguish still resound,  
                                      Inside and around the home he lived.

                                      Which had  hoped he would, someday,
                                      Come back alive, secure and gay,.
                                       Instead came the bolt from the blue,
                                       Bringing him home this gloomy way!

                                       Heaps of flowers and wreaths offered,
                                        Tributes and messages of condolence,
                                       Are but poor solace to the   kins,
                                         Shattered by the sudden blow.


.                                        Words and gestures of sympathy,
                                        Can hardly lessen so profound a grief,                                                                                                           What can compensate  the loss,   
                                         So immense and beyond repair?

                                        The only healing thought is that,
                                        He gave his life  for the country's sake
                                        And that will  keep his name alive,
                                         Forever in our minds and hearts.
                         

                         
Written as a tribute to the martyrs of Pathankot terror attack.