28 Jul 2006

The setting of a Battlefield


My heart was heavy, my face was long
As I went from one news site to another
Bombs over here, floods over there
Men and Nature destroying each other
 
It made no sense, my tears welled up
Helpless and hopeless; surfing without aim
More news, a little child kills himself
As he plays the newfound , ‘choking game’.
 
I wandered for a day with grief in my heart
As frustrations and questions clouded my mind
I looked for answers, I searched for reasons
But nothing satisfactory, could I find.
 
Another day, more restless moments
Tonight I threw my hands up in despair,
As the last resort I picked up my Gita
Almost with a defiant and rebellious air
 
Talking to the book and to my lord
I addressed both in a quarrelsome note
Little was I ready for the immediate reply
Hidden in the verses a sage once wrote
 
Ah, the battle, it makes sense now
Why you chose such a gory scene
Pitted against his own close ones
Oh, for Arjuna the world looked mean
 
And you told him then in your gallant style
How birth and death don’t bind the soul
You showed him then your grander plan
How it all came together in your mixing bowl
 
You showed him a frightful vision of yourself
With warriors running into your open mouth
Destined to die, they were in your plans
And your rule reigned from north to south
 
And yet you tenderly explained to your friend
The ways of nature and the nature of man
Outlining the route that would help him live
As wisely and righteously as any man can
 
Even today there is a battle all around
With the appearance of a useless life
But the advice you gave holds meaning still
A ray of light amidst all this strife
 
You definitely chose a wonderful scene
Of the battle, meaningless and gory 
For it is a scene that continues to replay
It is what I read in today’s news story
 
It is in such times that we seek an answer
At such times we prepare to listen anew
At such times we cast our assumptions aside
And come open hearted to you.
 
 

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