You have fallen not forgotten!

By Jerusalem Barnabas          

October 13^th 2023

You have fallen not forgotten!

It was in 2020, during the month of November

How can we forget of course we remember?

The genocidal war officially started

People of Tigray Unprepared, unexpected

It unleashed from there,

the indiscriminate attack on land and the shelling by air

to terrorize, to humiliate and scare

Tigray turned into a killing field

no place was safe, no armour to shield

people were shot dead, bodies thrown

in every hamlet every town

whether Alamata or Mehoni

Axum, Abi Adi, Mai Ayni

Alitena or Adigrat

Maikinetal Dedebit

Embaseneyti or Seharti

Edaga Hamus,  Tselemti

Bizet to Korarit

Enda Selassie to Wolkait

Quiha, Zalaambesa to Ahferom

Shire, Hawzein, Adigudem

Adwa, Samere, Ganta Afeshum,

Mahbere Diego,  Adi Daero

Edaga Arbi,  Sheraro

Mariam Dinglat and Wukro

Badime, Naeder to Chercher

endless areas hard to remember

Abergele to Mekele

Kola Tembien to Hawzein

Alamata to Tsegede

From Mai Tsebri to Sengede

Gulo Mekeda to Humera

Hagereselam to Mai Kadra

massacred by

The Ethiopian Defence Force,

the mindless army of Eritrea,

the Militias from Amhara

shelled from the skies, Turkish drones and the Emirate

China, Russia, Iran to destroy Tigrai they were all desperate

Al Nejashi, Debre Damo, Axum Tsion had no shield

 Christians, Muslims, livestock, moving animals, all killed

In Maryam Tsion went the mayhem

genocide committed in ‘law enforcement’ name

Priests, worshipers, men, women, no one was spared

The carnage left corpses and countless people dead

The sheer terror intensified the abhorrent act spread

people saw before them, their sisters and mums raped

witnessed young boys thrown from the hilly cliff top

in Mahbere Diego where the killing didn’t stop

the mayhem continued, Women and girls were raped, abducted,

enslaved, Impregnated, their reproductive organ, mutilated,

exposed to sexual diseases, traumatised and infected

no clinic with medicine no ambulance around

pharmacies, health settings, demolished to the ground

schools, hospitals, factories, collapsed to a wreckage

Tigrayans were left with no choice but to fight this to change

to stop the chilling massacres and the wanton destruction

the planned systematic war, the genocidal mission

Tigrayans couldn’t watch cowardly, these unprecedented crimes

decided to die in dignity, giving their precious lives

career was abandoned, studies were abrupted, dreams were aborted

Yet, Tigray Tiser, praised and chanted

Today, those are the ones we thank and honour

The dead and the injured the traumatised who suffer

We pay tribute and admiration for the living unbroken,

For the ultimate sacrifice paid, by the martyrs that have fallen

The children of Tigray, the land of a brave nation

The world spoke about them and praised with acclamation

In 2021 July named as, one of the six bravest nation

We shall not weep for the brave, when we stand on their grave

Their stories we should tell, their images we would save

Let there be exhibitions and museums, let their pictures be displayed,

There shall be a steel monument, with their names fully engraved

let school children learn their history, why the martyrs have fallen

 their bravery must be narrated, let many books be written

let films and dramas be directed, seminars, conferences be hosted

let researches be carried out, image Calendars be posted

let’s rally for the living too, that deserve to be supported,

let’s say thank you for the selfless, who have fought in this conflict

without them today, Tigray would have been extinct!

thanks to all of you, for the unexpected call of duty

to fight against genocide, to restore Tigray’s dignity!

thanks to the family of the martyrs, we are sharing your pain

your children are the source of courage, time and time again!

for our fallen and the injured, although we feel sad

won’t forget your principles, in unison we shall stand!

we would put our heads up, while lowering our flags

we remain proud always, for the dignity you gave us!

we have to bring our land, the occupied and the stolen

the displaced shall return home, the makeshift camps be thrown

we shall not rest until Tigray, its territory is restored,

the struggle must continue whether at home or abroad!

We say thank you to the wounded but unbroken

We say good bye to martyrs who are the fallen

we promise never be forgotten!

In tribute for these heroes and heroines!

Tigray remains, as the land of the dignified and brave nation!!