Monday Musing
[ Tongam Rina ]
I saw a portrait of smiling Hailyang. Was it a pic taken on his wedding, or last Myoko?
The women surrounding the kitchen.
This must have been how it was each time
when he came home, surrounded by his loved ones, in that warm fireplace.
This time, not in person – he came home as a portrait.
Women in silence, in tears,
in prayers.
That calm picture screams of pain… and of what should not have been.
The hearth without the fire…
extinguished before time
by hatred and terror in a faraway land.
There were flowers
over the white sheet
and melting candles.
What should have been
a celebratory bouquet –
what’s left
is petals now
on the table,
and a wreath of marigold.
Calm-
a calm valley shattered by tears and grief.
Words are always empty.
This time it’s emptier and hollow,
but how the family,
how friends
must be longing
to hear one word from him.
How do we mourn
without anger and questions?
There will never be an answer.
How do you console a wife
who lost everything
in what should have been
a moment to talk,
to tell friends and family
what a splendid meadow it was?
The void of a lifetime.
How do you console
a parent
who is living the nightmare
of every parent…
to bury a child?
How do you console
a sibling
who just lost someone
who needed no explanation,
who just knew your heart
just by hearing one word you spoke?
How do you console a village,
That nurtured a child with love and pride,
watched him become
a protector of the skies?
How do you console a state
confused and hurt-
that you could be killed
for your religion,
for who you worked for?
There is darkness,
all around.
But could we gather
a moment
and tell him
that he did a good job?
And that he will continue
to inspire generations
to serve this nation?
And that he will always be loved
and tucked in our hearts,
in the pages of history
of our state –
for he was
a worthy son
who protected till the end.
You never wavered or withered, Hailyang.
You live forever, in our hearts and memories.
Rest in everlasting peace, Hailyang.
