Cowardice grips me tight
and guides me in all the wrong directions-
like a puppet I go where it wants
I flee from Commitment, from Growth
and float aimlessly in pools of despair
created as a byproduct of Cowardice’s actions

there are times where Bravery finds me
floating by solemnly, head barley above water-
it releases me from my shackles
and in those times I remember how to swim
I remember how to command my own limbs
and I emerge and I stand, to face down Fear

but inevitably
inevitably
Cowardice finds me once more
and when I blink the chains return
and it pulls me in all the wrong directions
leaving me craving Bravery’s warmth
just out of reach now, I grasp for it over and over
but I-
I just
can’t
reach

The welcome sun gilded, the mighty seven mountain peaks
As fingers adorned with rings, they lay aloft our eyes
Beneath our feet, the silent sleeping snowy snake
Conquered on the kiss of cold, a cambered frozen line.

The eternal night of valour, written in silver past
Still shining in the faces of unshuffled uniforms of bravery
Twenty daring sons of motherland, in the ticking clock of darkness
On the giddy throng of foes, fallen lightning strokes.

Time was what they need, till the distant succour
They fought an infinite war, fringing their martyrdom
Until the land kisses, the unclouded moment of victory
For the present cradles to sing, made their last salute.

There is no disagreement,
no mutiny, no desertion
Only a quiet acknowledgement
as the men get back to work

The signalman returns to his signal,
Throughout the day, he will never stop
relaying the events.

The sound of the oncoming horde grows louder,
Rifles crack, The horde is upon them,
assaulting the outer wall

The disciplined fire of the Sikh troops,
breaks the first wave of the tribesmen.
But they are like the sea, rolling back,
and rushing forward with even greater strength.

Bodies drop all along the killing field.
in front of the signalling post.
The sound of twenty rifles,
roaring against ten thousand.

But this time, it's not enough to break the charge
Shells pepper the rough hune walls
One of the signal company falls dead

Then the enemy is at the wall
Climbing, clambering up, determined.
A brief melee: Knives and swords, bayonets and rifle butts

They break the wave again, But this time,
There's Sikh blood in the dust, under the baking sun
The bodies of the fallen are carried into the inner wall
Each loss is a friend, one of only 21 holding the station.
and that number is dropping

Shouts are heard from outside the wall,
The tribe's leaders are promising the Sikhs
wealth, safety and positions of importance
All they had to do was abandon their post.

No man budges.

The wild unforgiving landscape,
The perilous heat and,
The untamed sun.
A fools conquest the land was.

Dawn comes to the very boundary of the empire,
standing on the uncontrolled border.
A string of forts stretch long and thin,
covering the horizon with their power.

Dawn breaks as the men wash and meditate,
affixing there turban to begin the day.
Sensing a looming threat in the air,
the Sikhs man their posts.

Someone tells a joke to break the tension,
everybody laughs, but the feeling remains.
The lookout shouts about an enormous mass moving on the horizon,
The twenty-one takes their defensive positions.

At least 10 thousand tribesmen,
once there allies but now, in full retaliation,
descending on the forts with only the signalling post,
standing in there way.

The unit is piling up ammunition,
barring the gates to there tiny compound.
The signalman sends a tiny message,
"Can you send help?",
Only with a slight delay, "no".

The men in the unit gathered around their commander,
Ishar Singh, knowing fully that they could make a break for it,
Ishar then tells them calmly about what they are already,
in their hearts, are ready for.

They will stay and,
They will fight.

They will delay the oncoming tribesmen,
as long as possible.
They will buy the forts the time they need,
to call the reinforcements.

Poetry and words flow throw my blood.
I have been brave enough to recognize my role.
Life gave me the present of finding a way to fill my soul.
It's all about give and take.
Following your heart after all.