After the War is Over

Here I lie on the ravaged stones

The cold of night in my derelict bones

The sky full of stars that care nothing

For the aftermath of defeat and victory.

Does it matter who won or lost?

It's I who always paid the cost.

Civilian or soldier, friend or foe

Winner or loser, today, long ago,

I still have no face, no name;

The flags will fly, the sun will burn

Women weep, and the planet turn –

And soon enough, someone else will lie

After another war, under the eyeless sky

Remember me, or choose to forget

It’s all the same – I’ll be dying yet.

Copyright B Purkayastha 2016