Last Letter

For some, a letter knocked the doors,
For some, arrived men,
Both served the same purpose,
Separation. Separation of
Boys from their fathers,
Fathers from their kids,
Husbands from their wives,
But none from their mothers.
Dressed in mud, decorated with grass,
Highlighted in grease, we crawled.
Everything I learnt in junior high,
Everything I learnt in college,
Accounted no moral advantage,
But I wasn't too grown up to know that,
I never thought much,
They asked, I did,
I did, they asked.
Humourous.
They told,
Loose or make them loose,
Shoot or get shot,
And I did, blindly. Shot 'em all.
Soul cracking music of beats and rythm,
Everywhere, with a little metallic touch,
Drenched in sweat and blood,
But mostly in blood, we climbed,
Climbed over heaps of corpse,
Over Victory or loss? I don't know.
I guess, answers change with time,
With perspective and liabilities.
I enjoyed it back then, too much,
I was just killing people ruthlessly,
Cold and straight,
I enjoyed it, it was a pure feeling,
I was serving the land,
or at least this is what they told me,
I felt energetic, powerful and dignified,
After everyone I shot,
Apparently.
I didn't look, I didn't see,
With every person I killed,
A family was ruined,
I didn't see the root of the tree I struck everytime.
Fun fact: Even the dried off trees have roots.
But currents were supposed to turn one day,
One ordinary day, everything went the usual way,
Nothing changed, but the relative positions,
I was standing on the other side of the bullet,
I got pierced, through the center of my chest,
Some liquid came out,
And perspectives changed at that very moment,
A family, a girlfriend, some friends, some places,
They all scratched the brain,
But I was most surprised by the thought,
That was born that very moment only,
That the people whom I killed would be having the same,
I regret for not sharing that thought.
No, wait! I did, I shouted,
But barely someone heard,
The music was too loud.
Smiling friends, and kissing my girl,
Were some of my last thoughts,
Along with the planned incomplete
Letter that I sent to my mom,
'Return safe. I will pray', she wrote.
'I will', I wrote back,
'Wrapped in national flag', I never added.
Happy Ending.