Caught in a Crossfire

Hey everyone! =)

I had participated in my school’s MUN this year which was held pretty recently, and I was a journalist in it. One of our tasks was a ‘Feature’ wherein we had to write something creative – like a poem, diary entry or prose – and I ended up writing a poem ( hehe, as expected xD ) from the perspective of a Guatemalan military officer in the early 1980s.

Guatemala was bearing the burden of an ongoing civil war during that time period and it will always be a dark phase to remember, not only for the citizens of the country, but also for the world. So here it is, and do let me know your views about it.

~This is a poem found in the suicide note of a Guatemalan military officer, dated 23rd July, 1982 , who is bestowed with the duty to capture insurgents and slaughter their alias.

Caught in a crossfire.
Strangers lost in vapours and mist.
Surviving with the fear of fading.
Bombs dropped and detonating.

Caught in a crossfire.
Why can’t we coexist?
There’s blood and bodies in the water.
Insurgents captured and sent for slaughter.

Caught in a crossfire.
The officers are here again.
They’ll tell me to intensify the brutality,
To detach myself from my humanity.

Caught in a crossfire.
I can’t be a liar anymore.
“Don’t be a monster,” they beg and cry.
Truth is, he’s won – the devil inside.

Caught in a crossfire.
Where there was once a school,
Now lies a steel-cold cemetery.
Of the many that I have loved,
There are now too many to mourn and grieve.

Caught in a crossfire,
And it won’t end.
Why live to win a battle against fate,
When there won’t be any loved one to defend?

And as the sinners dress as saints,
I’ll drench the town in blood-red paint.
The blood of my regret will drip down the church walls.
And in those last moments,
I’ll trade my ammunition for salvation.
In silence as the gunpowder taints the air,
When the blood in my mouth tastes bitter.
I’ll let a sob wreck my shattered heart,
And I’ll pull the trigger.

©️Megha Bhartiya, inksoakedsoul.wordpress.com

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Happy Blogging!

-Megha Bhartiya 💜