THE FORGOTTEN HERO

Goodive Sidney Ntiri

Is he forgotten so soon

With your mouths watered

By the fruits of his toil?

Do you beat drums for him no more

Nor chant him funeral dirges?

Do the women wail no more

Nor the men strike their chests and curse?

Have the muskets been stored away so soon

And the Asafo companies so early retired

Don’t ask for his name.

Don’t pretend you’ve forgotten him

For the twang of the bullets that struck him

Still linger in the air!

The thick blood that flowed

From his soft compassionate heart

Cannot be dried by even the tropical heat.

Is he forgotten so soon

With your mouths watered

By the fruits of his toil?