Shadows

 
Shadows
 
I saw the sky was laughing,
I saw the clouds that blew.
I saw the sun was shining,
Amidst the white and blue.
 
I saw the flowers blooming
Beneath that sky above.
It seemed the Earth was singing
Of happiness and love.
 
And then my eyes were blinded,
By light, more bright than sun.
And then, my ears were bleeding
And I, with death, was one.
 
******
  
I see the bodies scattered
Beneath the roiling smoke –
And am I dead or living –
And is this just a joke?
 
A man, at me, is grinning –
His head is all that’s left.
A smoldering girl is writhing –
Of face and skin bereft…
 
The flies and maggots feasted
As corpses rotted slow.
And I, among them, wandered,
Not knowing where to go.
 
******
  
But now I’m dead and gruesome,
With all who once lived here.
And yet – a child is playing
And showing naught of fear.
 
For see – the sun is shining,
As flowers toss in wind –
And so, it’s back to heaven,
Where humans once had sinned.
 
The children here are laughing –
The innocence of youth –
And I and mine are shadows,
Unwanted and uncouth.

2014 August 27th, Wed.
Brooklyn, New York

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A translation into Bangla (Bengali) can be 
found at Bhut (Ghosts).