Deified War

When I ask the warriors:        Why do you fight war?
They say,        it is for a beloved.          It is a justified war.

But isn't slaying humans                 a sin in every religion?
They smile at my naiveté,    avow:       It is a sanctified war.

What is your fascination with        unfurling flags over graves?
Ask Homer or Ved Vyas,         it is the poets who glorified war.

Enemy women are raped daily:      Why media never reports it?
Press ought to suppress inhuman truths.       It is a dignified war. 

Don't you know that battles destroyed     Napoleon, the British empire?
They fought for glory, we for money.       It is a commercialized war.

If the quest is of peace, then        why keep bombing the Middle East? 
It is a shock and awe measure               to banish a terrified War.

Why are millions condemned to die           at one President's war-whim?
Its of the people, for the ..., by the ... --       it is a democratized war.

Isn't the altar of War-God overrun           by blown-up bodies, refugees?
He requires human sacrifice.                   How else can be pacified War?

Give Vivek a hope for a future           without guns, bombs or wails.
Why lie?       For God, land, money, women, oil -        we'll ever fight war.

Published first on The Ghazal Page (Volume 1, 2012)