Ask me about Gulu,ask me about
the area associated with instability
ask me about one of the farthest towns
I was there,and clad in my red gown
ask me about clouds,I've seen them thick
ask me about whatever, just handpick
Karuma falls, their sprays of violence
savanna,swamps, what an ambiance
it was, how sweet the journey was
so secure a town, forget years of wars
the people,calm unless fray they must
ask me about the cost of living there
some of us couldn't dare bear
Ask me about Gulu town and I'll say
Go and prove,go see for yourself
How a town can be secure for sure
Go and see definitions of distance
go and stop associating it with resistance
ask me about straight roads in Africa, straight as a ruler
only hills and slopes reminding you they're roads
ask me for hell hot sun and the winter cooler
ask me about very volatile beads of tropical rain
and I'll tell you find it in Gulu,rivers of splash drain
ask me about tourist sites and I'll show you the route to take
informing you that the adventure to make
is to the north of the country if you haven't,I have
you might have not realised those are a people with love
ask me about places with trees from shrub to pine
ask me about Gulu and I'll praise it overtime
I saw no skeletons, bullets, no wounds or scars
they are only probably left in hearts or healed
the night sky dotted with patches of pregnant clouds and stars
even nature lives a serene life,the bottle of that history was sealed
Ask me for the reasons Uganda is the pearl
I've seen most,in the west,the East, now north,
for all it's worth
I only need to venture the south to astutely say I've seen them all

Platonic Friendships
Best friends until death do us part
Photographs and reactions
My anxiety starts
Does she like that sweater you got her?
Is it the one you got me?
I know I probably sound crazy to you
But this is making sense to me
A quick photo of you guys
Not just you two but three
But the only guy in that
Photo and you’re standing next to Na-
No I’m not jealous of her
Because I really can’t be
But seeing you happy with
Another girl can’t help but **** me
I know you won’t kiss or hold
Another body the way you do mine
But the conversations we have
The places we go, do you share that stuff? Don’t lie
I grow with bitterness And the flowers I had
Die in an instant and I grow so mad
Because I took the time to mend myself
And make sure I never spoil this
And when I finally explode
We talk until we don’t know
And it ends up being a problem dismissed
Sometimes I grow angry
But tell myself im fine
I mentally yell
Can she find a boyfriend and
Stop hanging out with mine
Platonic friendships
What a concept
Guess im not in with the times
I worry that you’ll grow tired of my rage
And leave me behind
And I don’t think id be fine
What if there comes a time
That she finds a guy
And he starts asking why
Why she hangs around one
Particular guy who just so happens to be mine?
What would she say?
What would she do?
I guess you’ll never get it
Because how could you?
If I had a guy
Who I say is my friend
Would you lie
And say its fine
Just like I do?
Or would you do neither?
I don’t know what your heart looks like around her
And I don’t know what hers looks like either
When shes sitting there and you pop out your camera
And you take photographs of her do you glance at her beauty
The way you glance at me when we sit in car seats
and you’re clearly seeing through me
Im sorry im just not use to this
Platonic friendships
But I wont be ashamed for feeling
And I’m not very good at concealing
These feelings im healing
Im trying
I’m not one to really cry
I guess I’ll never get it
Because how could I?
I could never catch
A movie with another guy
I could never handpick
a gift for another guy
share my life with another guy
laugh and smile for another guy
how could i? how could i.
you say my definition of best friends seems
to be outdated
but its hard to adjust to modernity
and to be honest i hate it
coffee talk and movie watch
the whispers that you breathe
piece of you all over my body
and you carry pieces of me
I think ******* this is gonna hurt
if you ever decide to leave
but my heart is in the right place
and I just hope you see
I want it to be me
Always want it to be me
It might be selfish but I don’t care
Because being your soulmate
Is worth every strand of hair
You put me first and love me tender
And I want you to be happy
Wherever and with whoever
It’s just that smile of yours
My piece of heaven on earth
I wanna be the reason for that
And if its anyone else itd hurt
but you could never write
about another girl
start a life with another girl
write a book for another girl
sing lovely songs for another girl
paint the future with another
share yourself with another girl
hold and kiss another girl
so why do I care about another girl?

Through the fields of the impossible,
Up the hills of the intolerable,
Wipe the tears of a confused face,
Douse the fires of this place,
Rise up and handpick your destiny,
Keep going strong; never accept defeat,
Run your way up and you will open up doors,
Clench your fist; the future is yours,
We will brace ourselves for our greatest victory,
And I will burn through it all; there is no stopping me,
Be the leader; trooper for all man,
Become great; defeat the odds; take your last stand,
Don’t cry yourself to a vulnerable weakness,
And refrain from defeat because victory is shameless,
Open your eyes; don’t submit,
Are you afraid; not a bit,
Step up; right in demand,
Get up my friend; Take a last stand,
We will grant ourselves our greatest victory,
Greatness in our veins; Triumph we bleed,
We will climb the mountains and do what we can,
Raise your hand to your heart; take your last stand,
We will march down the fields with fear tucked away,
We will do many things among ruling this day,
Through this time of endless possibilities and events,
We shall rise above the fallen and live the moment,
We will plant our presence in history,
As triumph and peace accompanies our victory,
And open to everyone will be our past plan,
Of how we took to the skies and took our last stand.

Upon searching "not a poem"
Almost nine thousand non poems popped
Each one a slightly separate suggestion
On the mental conception of non poetry
A common theme that seems to seep into the souls of some
What makes words poetry is the purity that protrudes from paper
The song of sweet cries and lullabies
Escalating rage and hallucinations of bliss
So if,
A set of words no matter how weak, seeks a path past a draft in a memory shaft
It is a poem
Upon searching "not a poet"
There's a familiar theme of wannabe e.e. cummings
That can't see they are poets indeed
There's no prerequisite set of concepts to adhere to
What makes you a poet is your gift of expressing life through letters
Not just trendsetters and regretters
So if,
You can sit and explore a language and handpick the words that create magic
You are a poet.

Bowing down settles our stagnant hearts,
little touch, palm to palm,
turn your face but do not leave.

Fickle world, consumed with history,
lesser truth, no permanence,
let me bathe with unsaid goodbyes.

Rainfall covets the familiar warmth,
I want to be strike by hurt and revival,
handpick the pieces of what you left behind,
return the name we borrowed from above.

By the end of it all,
leaving will settle in our stagnant hearts.

I have this feeling you speak the language
whispered only between raindrops,
and every morning
you tune the hum of the sun as
it dims the stars, pushing its way
out of the ocean—into the sky.
I have this feeling you handpick the color
of each October leaf,
and when fall has wandered away,
you proceed to pull the strings which
make the northern lights dance
the way that they do.

I just have this beautiful feeling.

Some people settle for anything and anyone.
Others settle for none.
We all are selected in various ways.
Even on the love interest we want to come our way.

Like picking a fruit in your nearest grocery store.
We handpick through them to we find the right one.

Out of all the people that stood out in the crowd.
I hand picked you as the object of my eyes.

today, I chose to unmake the memories
I untangled your hands from around my heart and set it back into my chest
this looks like forgetting but it’s not
it’s more than that
it’s erasing the lines of warmth I’ve penciled in over the hurt
I’ve stopped pouring sugar over the unsatisfaction
and started remembering us correctly
you see, I cannot recall myself stronger, less of a coward
when I was unwilling to rock a sinking boat
I must erase the imagined version of us where you knew exactly what I wanted
because I told you
the truth is, you cannot iron out the heartache without ruining the lies
it is impossible to handpick only the good memories
you cannot invent a fullness where there was something empty
so,
today, I chose to see the truth
to see all of our failures and shortcomings unredacted
and come out unscathed despite it