THE SILENT SOLDIERS -- a few verses for the nurses

  

Tennyson wrote of the Light Brigade

That charged amid cannons a-thundering;

‘Twas an ode to obedient but valiant six hundred,

Valiant that fell still a-wondering.

 

All those who march in battle formation,

Carrying arms for offence or defence,

With the glamourous aim of “Saving the Nation!”

Aren’t the only great soldiers, my friends.

 

Thousands there are in their sanitised robes

In corridors of care, and of angst,

Flitting amongst a million microbes. 

You don’t know what you’re up against.

 

And when the dark virus from China dropped in 

And little about it was known,

These soldiers took arms, dug the trenches, jumped in,

And like Tennyson’s soldiers, fought on.

 

Ill-informed they were, there was no ‘marking time’

Ill-equipped, they went gingerly on,

Oblivious of breathers or mealtimes or shift-time 

To the Line of Control, they held on.

 

They entered the battle with ne'er a sound,

Abhimanyu was better prepared;

Little was known of the real battleground

And everyone did as they dared.

 

The chakra-vyuha they entered, unfazed,

Not knowing what happens thereafter,

But bleary of eye and sallow of face,

They fought on, averted disaster.

 

The virus has opened our eyes, no doubt,

To so much we had taken for granted;

And obviously ‘cause these soldiers don’t shout

Their valour is never accounted.

 

No praises nor prizes could be adequate

And words are just never enough.

No money, no gifts could e’er compensate

For their deeds when the going got tough.

 

So, here’s to the nurses, the doctors, and all

Who fight all those undeclared wars,

Just be sure that you appreciate them all  

And give them a round of applause!

 

Applause! Applause!!

 

Let it be a resounding applause!