Lourdes City was concerned <br />About Bernadette, its dear child, <br />As there was no news about her <br />Even thro’ any newspaper. <br /> <br />The Mayor sent his secretary. <br />Followed by her sister Marie, <br />Along with other kith and kin, <br />All led by Father Pomian, <br /> <br />It was a good gathering <br />To see one fine morning. <br />They exchanged greetings <br />In that happy meeting. <br /> <br />They talked about their past, <br />How the time moved fast, <br />How Lourdes had grown, <br />They missed her and so on. <br /> <br />They saw her paintings, <br />Also colorful drawings, <br />And praised her imagination, <br />That was beyond description. <br /> <br />After they were all gone, <br />She reverted back again <br />To the same old routine <br />Art work one by one. <br /> <br />At that stage, war broke out. <br />The French soldiers fought. <br />They faced defeat after defeat, <br />Besides their Emperor’s arrest. <br /> <br />The emergency need was <br />Hundreds of nursing sisters <br />To take care of the wounded <br />In the hospital wards. <br /> <br />Bernadette also volunteered <br />Though she was prevented, <br />Because she was very weak <br />After the last asthma attack. <br /> <br />But she was more concerned, <br />About those sick and wounded, <br />Rather than her own health, <br />Even if she had to face death. <br /> <br />Her spirit of sacrifice <br />At that hour of crisis <br />Was so high, they felt. <br />She was born for it. <br /> <br />The Mother Superior, <br />And her former teacher, <br />Sarcastically asked her <br />Why she was popular? <br /> <br />Bernadette simply smiled <br />Her left leg she then showed. <br />Like that of a child’s head, <br />A big tumor got exposed. <br /> <br />It gave the Mother a shock, <br />And she stood like a rock, <br />Motionless and speechless, <br />On seeing her real kindness.<br /><br />Rajaram Ramachandran<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a38-war-broke-out/
