Men with gun

Men with guns

- Abhijit Chakraborty

Four o’clock was it

Was it four too more

Hands are closed to the skin,

And standing on the shore-

Beneath the eyes of the trees

Beside sight of the arch

With unfolded hands to the back

Soldiers running with a march 

Soldiers stood beside a river. The semi-dark mountain range stared at them and their guns. The sound of the river at once caught the mind of a peaceful soul. He moved towards the river, stopped in front of the perturbed reflection of his picture on the water- man with a gun.

      He felt, he was looking at the greatest worrier of his time, protected the boundaries from the clutches of the enemies. The others were stopped at the sight of sudden bewilderment of one of his friends. He sat beside the river and placed his gun on the green grass. The setting sun gave the last warmth of the day, when the soldier, though didn’t feel tired, sat on the damp earth being bemused by the Nature. When other soldiers also restricted their forward movement and felt the weight of the gun was too much for us to carry it forward, suddenly the mountain range was echoed with the blistering sound of the cruelest guns.

       Spreading red of the setting sun was ashamed of the spreading blood thrown upon the leg of the mountain, the face of the rocks and mixed up with the water of the river. The intruders felt pride as they stood on the bank facing the river. They felt they were satisfied to kill the soldiers. But when their faces were reflected on the running water, they were feared to see their own faces having with innumerable desire that came out from the veins of the secret yearning of the heart. They tried to touch their skin whether it was happening or not. They couldn't look at each other because they somehow knew the feeling of the other comrades. They tightened hold their guns and tried to focus the mountain and the river. 

      The white moon brightened the debris of the murderous flesh. They could not move forward. At last, they put the guns on the bank and washed their faces before one could identify their sudden tears.