Caught in the cross fire
Between Sri Lankan Soldiers and
Tamil Tigers
Amidst gun fire and quagmire
artillery bombardment and military bewilderment
Set out a group of civilians
Men and women
Old aged and children
All suffering brethren
On a small motor boat!
In an unknown sea route
Fled their home land
In pursuit of a helping hand
On their neighbor’s sand!
They carry no more money in their purse
Bearing only injury and curse
Leaving behind their cozy homes
Long cherished Rosy hopes
Fondly nurtured fertile fields
Highly paying fancy jobs
Carrying with them sobs and sobs
Leaving behind all their joys
Goody goody pretty toys
Al their lovely dreams
Turned horrible screams
Heading towards Indian lands
Yearning to hold helping hands
With lots of hopes
And heaps of dreams!
But bad luck struck them once again
The Boat’s engine stuck for a while
The Tindel checked-up and screamed ‘engine failed’
Tiny boat tossing in water aimless
People those stuck on boat still not hopeless
Sun rose
Sun set
For days on in a set
But no land was found at all for their feet to set
Ration stocks ended-up
Water cans dried-up
No food no water
Hungry souls
Dried-up stomachs
Parching throats
Flying vultures
Prying sharks
Few souls breathed last not able to keep the wolf at bay
Few more souls took their lives by jumping in to the Bay
About a dozen remained in a sorrowful sway
Amongst them was doting mother
With a suckling little child!
She resolved to save her son at what may be the cost
With no food to eat, she drank sea water with no taste
To feed her son with her milk to give his life a boost
Her strong resolve in her weakened veins gave her steely guts
To feed her son with love and care on her dried-up breasts!
When she realized her days are up she could not fight any longer
For she heard the sweet call from the Lord above, yonder !
But yet she thought that her son should live
She put her son in her husbands hands telling him
He is the fruit of our love
Hope of our life
Heap of our dreams, and
Shape of our aspirations!
Save him! Save him! She died staring at her son.
The poor remnant souls fainted in their boat
Leaving their lives to God to show them safety route
By providence a fishing boat found them at last
And brought them to shore to give relief while all looked at them aghast
For the boy was still clung to his dead mother’s breast!
The little son and father got re-birth by getting medi-care
Both of them, with co-survivors posed to press with a toy of teddy-bear!
The ordeal in the sea
