A Powerful Ode for Executed Ropvil Daciya By Abraham Yiljap

Ropvil faced his death calmly
No twitching
No hollering
No protestation
No grovelling
Just a calm face
On strong knees
Surrendered
Not to his killers
But to the Maker
Of the very ground
He was kneeling on

Ropvil looked into
The lens of the camera
In front of him
He stared
Calmly
At mortal men playing God
But he turned his back
On the messenger
With the hammer of Pilate
Ropvil turned his back
To the coward
Who, though should be free,
Is trembling with a gun
Too afraid to face life
But embracing death
With stenchy rags covering his face
While he cowers on the inside

Ropvil is the bravest
A true Plateau son
His face could hit the ground
Only in death
As he embraced his Saviour
A bold Plateau Youth –
Ropvil

He lives on
His blood
Plasters the grounds
Of Borno
To water the Gospel
And leave his killers
Restless as desert demons

This Plateau blood
Will speak on
Ropvil
The bold
Ropvil
The Youth of Valour
From the rugged hills
Of Plateau
He lives on…
And on…
And on

(Abraham Yiljap)