From ancient tales of mythical heroes to modern-day stories of bravery and sacrifice, the idea of heroism continues to captivate the human imagination.

It is through acts of heroism that we witness the best of human potential and aspirations, as individuals rise above their limitations and selflessly embrace a higher purpose. That is what President Kagame and his fellow liberators demonstrated when they took up arms against a brutal state machinery to challenge a dictatorship and later put their lives on the line to stop the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

Through his readiness to sacrifice his own life to liberate yours, he reminds us of the importance of courage, selflessness, and determination in facing the challenges of life. Indeed, his example teaches us that heroism embodies the very best of our essence as people and lights the path to greatness for every one of us, if only we give it a shot, like he did.

The following poem is one in a cluster of poems penned to celebrate and capture the echoes, and lessons drawn, from the brilliance of a man who has faced extra-ordinary adversity and triumphed over a milliard of constraints to squeeze possibilities out of improbabilities.

Incandescent

In our darkest moment

He was the incandescent

Light beckoning

In the black night

Of our despair;

A light of hope

That all was not lost

In the bloodletting;

That out of our desolation

An enduring seed:

Forgiveness

Would germinate

And renew our soul;

Refire the palpitations

Of the nation’s heart

To beat in rhythm

As her children

Cried together;

Cried over the pain

They had suffered

Or inflicted;

Cried over the scars

Seared on their bodies;

And etched forever

In their minds.

Then heard the silent

Inspiring Whisper

In the darkness

Of their despair

And glimpsed at

The incandescent

Flash and shine

In their black night;

And woke to walk

On the bridge

Of his light

To a new sunrise

And a silent whisper

In their ears

And across the land:

Acknowledge your past

But it’s captive;

Do not become.

The author is a former Ambassador of Rwanda to Turkey and former High Commissioner to India and United Kingdom.