Courageous Creativity May 2011

THEY SAY THE SKIES OF LEBANON ARE BURNING SONALI GURPUR We came home hours later to the horror of the tragedy People had died all around us Across the lake where the train station was Hundreds lay as if in deep sleep Three miles away we felt guilty to be breathing The television showed some of the aftermath but we learned More from listening to the BBC On account of censorship My father worked on the recovery And came home every night drained sad beyond speech or sleep He who had hated the enemy for not showing up for a fight At the northern border among picturesque Himalayan ranges Where he had been a few years ago Was fighting a war he hadn't imagined nor imagined hating so much Or wanted so much to win Counting bodies far more in number Than the media was reporting Fully cognizant that some of the misery Could have been prevented If not all If only‌..