The Unknown Soldier

by Joseph Ogbonna

I am your unknown soldier, sleeping and unsung.

I fought, got maimed, I was taken prisoner and hung.

I spilled my blood for the imperialist's glory.

I gave my own life for the general's story.

I promoted him with an indelible name.

I got his name enshrined in history's hall of fame.

He drank my precious blood for his exaltation.

He is eulogized in every celebration.

He enjoys the war booty I lavished on him.

My exploits are sung in his honour like a hymn.

I conquered vast lands for the imperialist's greed.

For his selfish ambition I was made to bleed.

On the gains of my own conquest he came to feed.

But to oblivion I have always been consigned.

My own heroism has never been defined.

I am none else but the age-old soldier unknown,

the one whose heroism will never be known.

The state buries my bravery in an unmarked grave,

with no record at all of all to it I gave.

Where else could my honoured general be interred,

but the stately mausoleum that makes him revered.