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.
The Shared Thought
A world without class
Lies like shattered glass;
A thousand pieces
Scattered across all places;
Each shard reflecting
A different pain,
A fractured dream
A heart groaning in vain.
A whispered plea
A yearning sigh,
A desperate need to see,
Or rise to mountain’s high.
The leaders call
From towers high,
"The future is nigh
Hold onto this hall
With a steadfast soul!"
A shared thought held
By a common thread,
To mend the wounds
And without bounds
Forge ahead in unison,
With a single vision
Focused bright,
To guide the flock
Through the darkest night.
But whispers rise
Of doubts and fears,
Of fractured paths
And bitter tears.
Some grasp the thought
With a trembling hand,
Finding solace
In a common stand.
Others flinch;
Their faith
On a hearth
Amid whispers
Of closed coffin doors.
The shared thought
A fragile vine;
Tended only by those
Who labour to refine
By what they choose.
Some tend to it
With watered care,
For its echoes are a deep,
Lull that whispers
Believers to sleep;
While others
Give in to ditherers
And stare as it withers.
Some even listen
To enobling tales
Of shared thought
And only hear
A hollow sound,
A whispered lie
On shifting ground
Or a cranking sound
Of chains
Of cruel deceit.
But for believers
In shared thought
A strength resides,
A unity forged
Where hope presides.
It is a potent force, a might
To hold together a flock
Against any roadblock.
The discerning leaders
Are not eternal pretenders
To the perfections
Of intertwined hopes and passions
For they have learnt
That even woven threads
May leave behind
Dark corners
Where shadows creep,
And seeds of doubt,
Begin to weep.
They have also learnt
That to get
A thought
To truly bind
Pieces of the shattered glass
Is both a work of art
By a mind and heart
Prone to eternal vigilance.
The author is a former Ambassador of Rwanda to Turkey and former High Commissioner to India and United Kingdom.