When Guns Cast Shadows

Dr Ranbir Laishram
Trust — every  leader talks about it,
The autocratic leader says trust is everything.
Only when trust is born
Can we make peace,
Can we live side by side?

But trust is missing—
Between people,
Between rival groups
Between our ethnic circles.

My heart tells me:
If someone will not believe,
If they refuse the road
To build trust—
If some keep tearing down
Every effort to heal,
While the many live
Under the shadow of guns —

Then no advice, no talk,
No negotiation can heal it.
For without acceptance,
Peace cannot even begin.

So much wisdom, so many fine words,
And yet—
Sometimes what we need
Is a firm guiding hand.

For in poor, forgotten lands,
Where the river of plenty dries,
Democracy struggles to speak,
Reason’s voice is drowned,
And only iron rules remain.