Unsung Hero Poem by Kingsley Egbukole

Sepulchres no doubt you have seen
Beautifully decorated of the rich and prominent
Here and there scattered

The poor and wretched also
Have their measure share of the soil
Thought shabby and ugly
Many shallow and unmarked

The drowned and lost have theirs
in the deep uncertainties of river beds
Or dark belly alley of carnivorous fishes
Where their remains escape human search

The soldier missing in action
Is represented at Idumota
And similar abodes of remembrance
In cities and villages the world over

But there is one, noble
A prince and heir
Gentle and respected
Who died young and brave
A sacrificial lamb for his kin
With no cenotaph, no grave
Even shabby, shallow or unmarked

For him my tears will not dry
And his wife, the wound will not heal.

(Thursday 27th January 2000,11.43pm)