You turn your head away‘he is my son,’ I say‘he was taken out of my grip’, I sayHe learnt how to shoot with a gun. He shot from village to villageenemies we all becamelapena leaves couldn’t hide uswe were handed blankets, beans and poshointernally displaced we became. Then I heard he was dead.‘he is my…
When is it right to rape a woman
Why, Silenced cries Sealed behind doors of blame Her breasts linger out Like ripe mangoes Sending me invitations Her big thighs barely covered by Her skirt made my blood hot Her eyes said she wanted it A piece of my manhood Thrusting thrusting thrusting That’s when it was right When is it right to rape…
The Small but Mighty
My dwelling place is the river The great oceans My storey building is the water body I breathe in the aqua like no other Freely I move To and fro, to and fro I do not have an enemy But people choose me as one I am lovely Nice looking I make palatable dishes Those…
Threshold (For my sisters rejecting FGM)
I am seventeen The moon giggles shyly and caresses the skies Sipi Falls cascade in a wave of excitement. I waltz with the falls downstream A tinge of warmth engulfs me My feet rub… My future. The village awakes It is the rite season The search… She descends with a knife I grip my tears…
My younger sister (How these things go)
She is the size of my palm the day I first see her writhing in white slime, hair slicked back like wet maize tassels on her head. for a few weeks her skin sheds, and we joke about how much the chunks of dead skin on the soft spot of her head, weigh when she…
Black List
merge discrete metals to smithereens, blacksmith who ain’t black and don’t smith Black Africa a golden ring with a diamond/ a diamond ring with a golden rim? I am Black not because I am African Black is what I feel an explicit soul speaking lingo a never melting candle lighting deeper character Africa is my…
Social media love
Babes, Please I beg, Let us not waste time on grammar! The time between is too short to waste on long words, Want to is- Wanna and Going to is-Gonna Here we are, Fingering gadgets, #Whatsupping, instead of twerking. Snapchatting instead of freaking each other, Groping clefts of throbbing flesh and skin Babes, Do not…
Acholi Chants
Alokolum yee!where we sitknit table clothes! These days, we chant dirges in EnglishAcholi (language) has become too difficultWe speak Acholi with a twang like we are speaking English. The English do not chant dirges in AcholiThe English do not speak AcholiBut us, we speak English like we are eating sweet potatoes. No one can defeat…
Lip Prayer
Your lips are mine and mine are yours. May my lips forever glorify and honour you. May my lips be truthful to you. May my lips calm your blazing brow and bring healing to your aching muscles. May my lips mop up your tears. May my lips dry the sweat of your toil, from your…
L.I.F.E.
Life’s like living just at the edge of a knife Incredible, yet most times one’s choice is not counted Fear, one’s likely to succumb to; courage’s rarely remembered Evidently, life’s not how long you live, but how well you thrive Life sometimes wants to be a dictator It can twirl and whirl without one on…