Us Marines - As The Last Soldier Leaves Afghanistan Poem
By Bernedita Rosinha Pinto
And as the last of the US marine
walked out of Afghanistan
and got on to that plane
to get to his own homeland, alive,
those many marines sat close to each other
huddled in that last plane
as they made it back safely
to their own country America
and they landed there with a sigh of relief
as a war that lasted for twenty years
came to an end with negotiations for a peace-deal.
Yet the world will keep its fingers crossed
as Afghanistan will still billow in that smoke
where right to freedom will clash
with the new rulers and their new rules
as they have taken over the charge of their country
and a new administration will therefore prevail
where no greater expectations will exceed
except those promises they made need to be fulfilled
which the eyes will long to see
which the ears will wait to hear.
And as Afghan people will want to breathe
in serenity and harmony
and not in violence and terror,
not in suppression and fear
they will count on brotherhood
and on humanity to revive
their neighborhoods and existence;
they will expect honor and respect
to regain its form and consistency
as every Muslim is bound by his devotion
to be kind to one another
and to save the dignity and integrity
of their womenfolk and their families.
And though many may dread the future,
and many may have those nightmares,
but the people of Afghanistan will pray
and hope to get back their peace,
their fraternity and their tranquility
as life will change and must change
for generations to accept and adjust
to the oneness of purity in their hearts and minds.
So go they said go and leave us alone,
let our country be ours and ours alone;
and as that last soldier got on that plane,
Afghanistan felt a vibration
which will tilt the destiny of its people
either by their own courage
or either by their own fate.
And though those marines are gone
and have left the Afghan soil,
many Afghans will miss them,
many will hold gratitude to them
for all the care and protection
these soldiers gave to the Afghan people;
many will silently recollect their sacrifices
and pray for all those soldiers
who lost their lives in saving the Afghans.
Wars makes enemies but soldiers make sacrifices
as they safeguard the people from harm
by risking and endangering their own lives;
thus these US Marines were more than heroes
as they waited all thro those years,
countering terror, defending the helpless
and shielding those who could not fight back;
and as that last soldier got on that plane
the marine soldiers will carry along
many memories of the people they helped,
of the people they saved
and of their own colleagues
who could not go back home alive
to America with them.