RWANDA and friends of Rwanda today begin the period of commemorating the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
There are several activities lined up to mark the week-long period, and poets, through their art, are joining the healing journey.
Poets Sam Asiimwe Ruhindi and Joan Ndekezi (right). Net photos
The New Times shares messages from different young poets and the inspiration behind the respective poems.
Sam Asiimwe Ruhindi
He wrote his poem ‘Ode to motherland’ to send a message to the current generation and the generations to come that what happened in 1994 will never happen again.
‘Ode to motherland’
Cloudburst of bullets
Millions of innocent quenched machetes
Streams of blood drained our land
Acrid sent covered heavens
Vultures and Reynard fed
The world turned a blind eye
The days were filled with ichor
And nights short to the hunted
They said love is the way and answer
But look how they treated us
Made us believers and we
Slew each other furiously
Brushing aside our brotherhood
what was a family became a ruin
Twenty five years down the road
The light glistered again
In the land of thousand hills
We now remember to keep
Alive memories of Genocide
To teach our selves
Our children and
Children after them
Not to judge each other by
Their ethnicity, height
Or shape of nose
We remember not to revenge
But to learn from our history x2
To unite and save our future
A thousand candles are lit
Every year as a sign of peace
We want to pass on to
Our children and generation after them
We walk in same rhyme
ND’UMUNYARWANDA X3
We bind together saying never again
To genocide against humanity
Never and never again
Eric Ngangare (1key)
A renowned poet in Rwanda, Ngangare believes such messages through poetry can restore hope not only to the survivors but also the millions of people and families who lost their loved ones.
His poem ‘On memory and hope’ reflects on how hard it can be to survive such tragedies, nonetheless encouraging survivors to keep fighting because to him ‘survival above all is the struggle to stay sane.’
‘On memory and hope’
Suicidal thoughts jam on memory lane
Survival above all is a struggle to stay sane
Yet somehow you maintained
Bet no external consciousness would last a day in your brain
The past is non-reversible, and present isn’t always a gift
The future unpredictable especially when gazed from a cliff
But since the only way is forward, familiarise with haze and mist
Trust the process; believe in the magic of life
Have faith in darkness when the stars and the moon don’t shine
If you can make it through the night, well, the sun will rise like a prize
I wish you find purpose and relief before you get to rest
You survived the worst; I hope you live to see the best
For what it’s worth, you’re worth it
Ines Umurerwa Rutayisire
She wrote her poem’ Why do I Remember?’ to help the young generation understand why Rwandans and friends of Rwanda remember the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
‘Why Do I Remember?’
Why do I remember,
Because they were robbed of their peace
And it was replaced with eternal trauma because
We were not given a chance to meet our families
And now we only meet them in pictures
We remember so that their memories live on forever
I remember because...
This month was supposed to fill happiness in my parent’s lives
And now sadness and vulnerability is what they only feel
I mourn the cousins, aunts and grandparents
I was supposed to be creating memories with
Ndibuka kubera...
Ibikomere byasizwe inyuma
Agahinda abanyarwanda basigaranye
Imitima imenetse n’inkovu basigaranye
Abana bato barikuba ari abantu bakomeye ubu
Ababyeyi barikuba barikumwe nabana babo
Ababyeyi barikuba barikumwe nababyeyi babo
We remember to keep a country strong
I remember, you remember and we remember to unite and renew.
Joan Ndekezi
Through her inspiring piece, Ndekezi highlights the need for Rwandans to stay united now that they found their true identity.
‘We have risen and still rise’
Blood Flooded my mother land,
Amaso yanjye abona mountains, lakes and rivers of my country covered by blankets of pestilence. I couldn’t believe what I saw...
The beauty and reality of nature disappeared in just a blink of an eye.
Hearts turned to stones.
Minds contaminated with fallacies.
Hands with knives, pangas, Machetes ...death, aiming mercilessly to steal a soul.
The image of God hidden, in the illusions of hatred....
Interahamwe was their new name.
Mana Yanjye, Baranyishe screamed my soul.
Pain deeply stabbing me,
Fear drowning me completely, for I was their victim.
Ntabara Mana, my heart cried.
God indeed heard me.
Yes, he saved me.
Yes, you and I forgot our identity,
But that was all in the past!
Today our history no longer defines us;
We are a people of Agaciro,
We are men and women of dignity,
We are one.
Turabanyarwanda kandi,
Turangwa: N’urukundo
Ubumwe no kubabarira.
Look!
Like a proverbial griffin, we have risen from the ashes,
Like eagles watch us, we are flying right from the scratches.
Like fighters, we are reaching out to grab what was stolen from us.