The women and children sleep in fits and starts inside a bunker
Desperately clutching on to each other
Hoping for some modicum of comfort
From the closeness of shared space
And the shared hopelessness of their combined fates

While being startled continuously by monstrous sounds
Of bombs, missiles, tanks, airplanes
Soldiers tearing into each other
Immersed in the blood and sweat of slain adversaries
Submerged completely in the mechanics of death and destruction

While men and women in formal suits
Sit in round table meetings in luxurious environments
Playing games, proposing, opposing, abstaining
Practising the fine moves of aggressive and passive balance
The subtle art of gaining advantage in international parlance

Meanwhile, the children and women are holding on to their last straws
Hoping against slender hope
For that elusive ray of maturity and wisdom to dawn in the minds of the leaders
Who can only talk and do little else
While the civilians in the war zone
Absorb their pain through their silent prayers

And the aliens watching this drama from outer space
Think about the stupidity of the earthlings
One earth, one planet, only one refuge
Yet seeking glory and grandeur in ridiculous warfare
And engaging in chest thumping amidst all the human misery and subterfuge

Subir Chakraborty
4th March 2022