I regret the day I was born 

I regret the day I was born,

for it was the day a nation cried.

A country full of glory and splendor in its past

plagued by minimalistic grievances

thus breaking it apart.

It was the day of a bureaucratic mass exile.

An exodus caused by unwanted , unquestioned

problems with mistaken solutions and 

causing unforeseeable destruction. 

I regret the day I was born.

For on that day homes were set ablaze.

Sons and daughters forced to leave

the villages of their grandfathers.

A day of criminal injustice , 

leaving the human souls shattered.

A day of sorrow

leaving tears in the eyes of all.

I regret the day I was born.

For that day bore the brunt

of the worst of the human spirit.

Childhood friends were after each others throats

to fight for their gods

whom they had never known.

Babes snatched from their mother's protective arms.

Daughters and mothers raped and murdered

witnessed by their family members.

The father, unable to protect his family

giving away his life with a false hope

for his kin to live on.

I regret the day I was born,

for it was a day of dreadful annihilation.

Men and women fighting one another

in the hope of a false greater good.

None believing that none side was neither good nor wise.

Deaths and destruction of the most horrible kind

leaving life and livelihood in complete tatters.

It was supposed to be the day a nation would embark

on its journey of a new beginning.

But it turned out to be a day

whose reminiscence could only bring out anger and sorrow

from its citizens.

They still live regretting their decision of less competence

rather than look for a solution of peace and development.

I therefore regret the day I was born,

for that was the day a nation cried,

that was the day humanity died.

Note:

The "I" in this poem is India after 1947 narrating the incidents during the partition.