By Gurutej Singh

If you were standing there today,
Ringing steel flashing through the sky,
Would I turn and run away,
Or stand and take the chance to die?

If, today I heard your call,
Bleeding steel above your head,
Could I bow and let it fall,
Then carry it and move ahead?

Could I bend to touch that place
Where life as we know it, ends?
Then carry on without a trace
Of what I, before, had been?

If you took your flashing steel
And probed the depths of my heart,
Would you find the contents real,
Worthy to stand and take the part?

Between the Ages, in the Cusp,
What kind of saint-soldiers are we?
Can we uphold the Guru's Trust
To keep our Grace and Dignity?

Can we keep alive the Call
You gave upon that Northern Plain,
Prepared to die before we fall,
Despite the losses and the pain?

On that day, when with sword you stood,
The call was loud, the enemy clear,
Your signature was written in blood
And holds sacred our honor here.

But what of those who in this time
Betray the Khalsa for their own gain?
Can they continue to lead the blind
Into a life of grief and shame?

This, your Khalsa, which is your life,
Shall stand, despite who comes or goes.
For it is in the face of strife
That we find, in ourselves, the foes.

If you were standing there today,
Ringing steel flashing through the sky,
I could but choose the Khalsa Way,
For there is no better way to die!

~ Espanola  Baisakhi, 1994