The Forgotten Land

Long long years ago
Yet not long enough to forget,
There was once a land,
That was a stuff of legends

It was like any other place
With people like you and me
Going about their daily chores
Feasting on their modest bread

With bazaars full of peddlers
Haggling for the right price
Noisy as much they were as kind
They had come in search of a better life

Colourful souks and malls
Adorned the city walls
Every lane led to another four
A maze of alleys as it was called

Kids mingled with one other
Irrespective of god
For the great kite festival was on
And the fight for the skies had begun

People from other lands
Called it “Jewel of the world”
Sang melodies in praise of it
And craved for its possession

Unknown to everyone,
A tempest was raging underneath
A violent storm that would ravage
The people for years to come by

Though the land was fortified
For external deadly foe
Little did it help them
For the enemy lay within

And then came the time
When the wolf led its howl aloud
Gone was the guise of the sheep
The murdering traitor was let loose

They plundered and killed
Both friends and foe alike
The fight was for good they said,
Euphemism, as we know for the dark times

They used to call it once
The land of milk and honey
But now they should come and have a look
For there is nothing but sand and blood

The people of that land
Had a cruel end to their lives
I still hear them scream from their graves
Were we not neighbours

The world watched silently
As the land was raped
None came forward to help
For they were civilized people

For the people who were left to die
In this hellish land
None offered a human touch to them
Though they were still like you and me

Forgotten was the land
That was tortured and dumped
But why do we care for them
For now all of us live happily ever after.