By Dr. Ahmed Gumaa Siddiek
General,
I am very fond of those stripes
On your chest and shoulder, with different sizes
I am fond of the stars, brightly shining
And the sword by your side, proudly dangling
I am fond of eagles on your shoulders,
With golden wings, flying like winds
And your fingers full with rings
I am fond of your chest
Full with rainbow colours
Medals with different sizes and shapes
Medals of silver and gold
Some are new and some were old
Shinning in the sun form your military suit
In fact, general,
I am also fond of your boot
That fits beautifully in your foot.
Newly brushed, and to be fair
It is always shining in the air
Making a fearful rhythm
When you tread the floor
With your mighty power
General, I love your entire look
Arrogant and tall in features
Smart and slim in your pictures
I am fond of the way you instruct your soldiers
To carry out your orders
But I really tremble with fear
When I hear
Your voice raised too harsh
To make your soldiers begin the march
And although it is so tough and harsh,
They go straightforward, keep the lines and march
Active and attractive when they walk
Though they are not allowed to talk;
They just walk as proud as the peacocks
General, I am fond of those embellishments on your shoulders
But I always ask how you got all of that stuff?
Is it through giving orders? to your soldiers?
To aim their guns and shoot at the enemy?
That is what people say, including ME! !
It is natural that all Generals give instructions
To defend their nations
And keep borders safer from invasions
This is what I understand that you all stay,
Awake, during the day
And during the whole night,
With your guns, ready to fight
With eyes open against intruders or spies
Who may tread our land or cross the skies
Then you shoot them and bring them down
To make safer all our towns
My General, I understand that you took an oath
To defend the Sudanese people
All Sudanese, everywhere,
In the seas or in the air
On the land
Or under the sand
General, you took the oath
To defend the honor of the Sudanese country
By all means, by planes, by tanks,
By machine guns or by infantry
Then when you win the war and come back
Defeating the enemy and making victory
We all feel proud of you as our hero
And put you name in the book of history
Then we reward you with medals of gold and silver
Stripes on your chest or on your shoulders
And rings in your beautiful fingers
Because you defended the people and the land
And because you make the victory
We hail your bravery
To be the hero of the county
So, that will be your dowry
This is what I understand about
all the Generals’ work here or out there
To defend the people and the land
and toil with blood their own sand
But I do not understand your role in Sudan
My country,
Your country,
Their country,
Our country,
For all those years but for centuries
Although you still look like all Generals
Gentle and handsome in your military suit
And full with pride from head to foot
But my questions now, how did you get all of that stuff?
Including your shining boot??
How did you get all those medals on your suit?
Is that because you defeated our enemy at the borders?
Because you carried out all the orders?
And brought back Halaib and Shlatin?
Brought back our dignity in the Fashaga
Or because of killing your people in your own country
In the Military Square?
And other places somewhere?
And this what you have practically done
Killed our people with their own guns
Eliminated millions of souls
Hitting their heads on the walls
In the South and in the West
And destroyed the land and the people
In the North and in the East.
And millions, displaced
In the four corners of the world.
General, we have bought all those machines
We paid for your training in our best military colleges
To be equipped with skills and knowledge
To defend the people and the land
This is what you should understand
And we have sent some of you
To the best military schools abroad
To Sand Hurst in UK,
And West Point in the USA
Then some to Russia
To fly the Sukhoi and the Antonov
And skillfully use the Kalashnikov
And steer warships in the seas
To disperse all our enemies
General, your training was well done
Getting the best education
But you have achieved none
To defend the nation
So instead of killing the enemy
You killed your own people, in cold blood
Shooting them like dogs in the streets of Khartoum
Where your tanks used to roam
Day and night, devastating the city
With endless of atrocity
And then you proudly come to tell us the story
And speak about your victory
To celebrate the Sudanese soldiers’ bravery!
General, you’re always proud
That you fought bravely all over the world
And all around
You always keep saying that:
‘We fought the German in the Desert and won’
But I say that was not our war!!
‘We fought in Mexico and won’
But that was not our war
‘We defeated the Italian in Karan’
But that was not our war
‘We fought in Kuwait’
But that was not our war
‘We had been to the Congo some years ago’
But all were not our wars
‘We had been to Jordan and Lebanon’
But that was not our war
‘Now we fought the Shia’a in the Yemen’
But that was not our war
‘We fought for the Aqsa Mosque’
Yes, the work was well done
But thankfulness was none
You fought with the Egyptian in Saini
But this work they forget or deny
All you did was not our war
It was a waste of our men
Loss of dignity and much more
You General have lost your men
And we have lost our pride
Our honour and dignity
And lost identity as well as unity
General,
We have lost twice
We have lost thrice
For no good price
For no good reason
IT was all treason
Do you know who you killed yesterday?
That was Doctor Babkir
A young lad with a degree from (U of K) Medical School
And master’s degree from Liverpool
Then a Ph.D. from Cambridge
Where he gained the best of knowledge
Exerted efforts in medicine all his age
He did well and got his degree
And came back to Sudan to live happy and free
He was back to Sudan with great wealth
To take care of our people’s health
But you got him terminated
When he raised his voice for freedom
A sniper shot him down to death
And stopped his breath
With a five-pound bullet at his head
He brought him dead
With a shot between the eyes
Who cares for his mother’s cries?
Who cares for his sister’s cries?
But we all do, General
We all do to get revenge
We will be fair and never forget
Because we care and we will avenge
So general, it is high time to step down
From the back of my town
Spare your machines for the enemy
Not for your people in the Sudan
Just step down
Take away your guns from our chest
It is time to get some rest
BUT REMEMBER GENERAL THAT
We had spared every penny
And paid our own money
To equip you with the best machines
To defend the people and the land
And toiling the sand
We made you get the best education
To defend the nation
But General!!
You have broken the oath
And achieved none
As nothing has been done
Nothing was done
Nothing done
Nothing and NONE