General Buratai (A Poem)
By Bashir Yahuza Malumfashi
__________
He walks,
Where maps fall silent,
Courage draws the line.
A mind
Of measured thunder,
A will by grand design.
Through dust
And doubt,
He charts a path
No fear can disarray.
A visionary of battle
Who turns
The night to day.
With tactics
Like a quiet storm,
Precise,
Deeply known.
He builds
From fractured moments
A strength
That stands alone.
His zeal,
A living fire.
No wind
Of war can tame.
A steward of tomorrow,
With honor
As his name.
He loves the boots
That follow,
Each soldier,
Every face.
Knows their silent
Burdens,
Their stories time
Can’t erase.
In trenches
Carved by hardship,
In watchful,
Sleepless hours,
Shares their bread
Battles,
Their frailty,
Their powers.
Not iron
Without mercy,
Nor command
Without a heart,
He binds them
Into brotherhood,
A single beating part.
For him
They stand unbroken.
For him
Their courage grows.
A general
Made of people,
As every soldier knows.
And for the land
That raised him,
He gives his breath
And more.
A patriot
Ever alert,
Ever Vigilent
On duty’s solemn shore.
He lifts
The flag through tempests,
Through sacrifice,
Strain.
A sentinel of freedom
Who bears
The nation’s pain.
No glory
Sought in echoes,
No praise
His guiding star,
But peace
Secured for children,
The end of needless war.
So sing
Of this commander
Whose legacy will be:
A love of troop,
Country
And fierce fidelity.
__________
© Bashir Yahuza Malumfashi,
Sunday 26-04-2026
