Wednesday, May 26, 2010

TRAGEDY

We stopped at Lockerbie on our drive from Manchester to Edinburgh . Here , we visited "The Garden of Remembrance"  at the local cemetery , built to commemorate the victims of the Pan Am disaster of 21st December 1988.

The picture below is of an angel on a tombstone erected many years , in fact decades, before the disaster . But it felt as if the angel was still in prayer for those who died in the crash .

We spent a quiet few moments in remembrance while a row of cherry blossoms carpeted  the grounds with their petals.



TRAGEDY


An angel stood
Fearful and petrified.
As bits of shattered dreams then gently
Drifted aimlessly, on wings that had broken presently.

An angel stood
Sorrowful and helpless.
As icy December winds could not put out the flames
That roared alive as misguided men ..played their merciless games.

An angel stood
Quiet and sad.
As charred ashes ....returned to Earth
Bringing to an abrupt end ..a journey begun at birth.


An angel stood
Silent and in prayer .
For unlucky souls ..that Peace they find
And Strength ... for those they had left behind.

An angel stood
Watchful and tireless.
As the cherry blossoms ...for decades and years
Profuse in a delicate pink ..wept copious and silent tears.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

What a soulfully beautiful tribute!
...Memories forever kept alive by a lovely Angel and pink cherry blossoms!

InkTank said...

i have no words shubha! this poem shook me completely. i remembered the brave neerja bhanot, i have faint memories of the PanAm bombing.....u have done more than justice to this angel that stands alone....nothing more....speechless....

Sehar said...

lovelyyyyyyyyy is the word
so beautifully written

Unknown said...

this is absolutely moving....really amazing in it's beauty and emotion. thank you so much for sharing this with me shubha!

Indrani said...

Very beautifully written, very touching.

david mcmahon said...

Very evocative work, Shubha. When I blogged actively (I had a blog called "Authorblog") I used to select a post of the day - this would have been right up there with the best of them.

shubd said...

@Rashmi
Thanks for your comment.
I do hope we always keep the people who died so unnecessarily in our mind's eye.

@ Ink Tank
Yes Neerja was brave indeed to shield three youngsters from almost certain death.

Thanks Ink tank for your comment and reading.

@Sehar

For one so young as you to be able to feel the depth of the tragedy is indeed commendable .
Thanks for reading.

@ Micheal
Even after so many years since the tragedy , it can not but overwhelm you when you spend a few moments there .
Thanks for reading .


@ Indrani
Thanks you so much for reading Indrani and your constant support of my writing.

@ David
I am glad it touched you .
And thanks for putting it "up there with the best of them " .

Jitu(Jyoti) said...

Touched a nerve somewhere...





am speechless!!

www.thulasidalam@blogspot.com said...

"As the cherry blossoms ...for decades and years
Profuse in a delicate pink ..wept copious and silent tears." Touching verse, love it,Shubha.