Guilty As Charged

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i gave you my tongue

so you could speak for me

i surrendered my guns

filled with bullets

so you could fight for me.

now you shoot at me

and slice my tongue as i watch

you boil my tongue

with heated conversations

now i can’t speak without a tongue

can i?

so i speak with my hands now

i shout at the tip of their fingers

i hold sharp broken pieces of my heart

that can nolonger hum war songs

to the battlefield

my eyes burn with betrayal

and sing sad songs

with broken chains of tears

i can’t speak without a tongue

can i?

so i still stammer in the songs

my eyes try to sing

i hope the lyrics guide you

to find evidence

that i am guilty

my legs feel the earth vibrate

i hope you felt it too

how the Earth’s stomach growls

in disgust of your unfair judgement

but we can’t speak without tongues

can we?

Elly E. Debuni

Written by

Elly E. Debuni

Elly E. Debuni is a spoken word poet, writer and filmmaker from Lira City, Northern Uganda. He uses his art to tackle societal issues focusing more on topics like identity, mental health and life.

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