Literature

Last Flight From Kabul…

By
Monojit Dasgupta

Thank God, it’s the last day/

Of my stay in Kabul today/

Seven months of this hell lived/

Will haunt me for a lifetime/

Scarred by sleepless nights/

Listening to blasts & bullets/

It ends with the last flight from Kabul…

 

Nights of screams & sirens/

Day & night, night & day/

And then deafening silence…

 

I am fleeing to home today/

In search of safety & peace/

Far removed from this city/

The city of the dead living/

Dead in souls, bodies living/

In war-raped human homes…

 

Men, women & children, still/

Have enough blood to spill/

To stain the roads with red/

They die & live day by day/

To be killed another day,,,

 

But I am bound for freedom/

Rushing towards the airport/

I sit in a blue battered pick up/

Driven by a surly bearded man/

With shifty suspicious eyes/

He refuses to take dollars/

The Americans are leaving, he says/

The dollar no more pays…

 

No Pashtun songs play on the streets/

The air smells of stale gunpowder/

The roads are dotted with guards/

& armoured vehicles with guns/

Shanties & makeshift homes/

Faraway, I see smoke rising/

The hidden TVs break the news/

Bomb attack near airport…

 

Thank God, I was running late/

Or I would have been at the site/

By now, lying injured or dead/

One more Indian killed in Kabul,,,

 

I remembered another morning/

When I had walked past the bus stop/

Three minutes after there was a boom/

& the ground shook under my feet/

I went back to see blood soaked bodies/

A girl crying beside her dead mother/

& stunned onlookers crowding around…

 

But here on this street/

A group of scraggy kids/

Are haggling over marbles/

Fighting with bare fists/

A jeep with masked men/

Firing their guns, races past/

The kids are not bothered at all/

They have seen & borne/

More bullets than marbles

In their young lifetimes…

 

I have suffered my horrors full/

I leave this madness behind/

With a prayer for Kabul…

Monojit Dasgupta

Recent Posts

Gautam Adani Indictment: Here’s What Sagar Adani’s ‘Encrypted Bribe Notes’ Messages Revealed

New York: The recent indictment of top executives of Adani Group, including its chairperson Gautam…

November 22, 2024

OTET-2024 Result Declared In Odisha; Steps To Check On BSE Website

Bhubaneswar: The result of the Odisha Teacher's Eligibility Test (OTET)-2024 was announced on Friday. The…

November 22, 2024

Director Bobby Islam & Actor Manoj Mishra Scuffle Near Bhubaneswar DCP Office

Bhubaneswar: An attempt for an amicable settlement of the dispute, involving Ollywood director Bobby Islam…

November 22, 2024

Low Pressure Over Bay Likely Tomorrow; Rain Forecast For Odisha, Night Temp To Rise Further

Bhubaneswar: Dense fog occurred at one or two places in Sundargarh and shallow to moderate…

November 22, 2024

Baba Siddique Murder Accused Used Mobile Hotspot To Evade Arrest, Here’s How

Mumbai: The Mumbai Police crime branch revealed that an accused in the Baba Siddiqui murder…

November 22, 2024

Kashika Misra Wins Golf Championship; Know About Her Odisha Roots

Bhubaneswar: Kashika Misra has created history by becoming the first Odia girl to win any…

November 22, 2024

Moscow Entitled To Strike Military Targets Of Countries That Allow Ukraine To Use Weapons…: Putin’s Warning To ‘West’

Moscow: President Vladimir Putin has warned the countries that allow Ukraine to use their weapons…

November 22, 2024

4 Held From Gujarat 5 Months After Duping Elderly Odisha Couple Of Rs 34L In ‘Digital Arrest’

Bhubaneswar: After a five-month-long investigation, Jharsuguda police in Odisha busted an inter-state cybercrime racket and…

November 22, 2024