Kagayi Ngobi
NIGHTMARES
I have lingered in our historic monasteries
And discerned a death among the dusty pages
Of him who fell silently as the story itself;
I have released my mind to wander
The great distances of time and memory
Between the dark pages of those times
And the dark moments of his death
And my heart becomes pale like the moon
Like the egg-shell beneath this horror my eyes cannot not crack
The pages have revealed to me his last moments,
And I have held my breath
Seeing him preparing to go to work
Preparing himself for a death -and a burial-
The future will disregard
And I call out his name
Ben Kiwanuka! BEN KIWANUKA!
Don’t go to work today! It’s not worth it-
Stay home and make the meal
Stay home, the country still needs you alive
We have corruption to fight and tribalism to overthrow
We have peace to make and forgiveness to preach
Happiness to provide and fairness to teach
The nation needs your guidance this nation needs to grow
Don’t go to work today
Ben Kiwanuka please -stay home today!
Don’t go to work;
If you go it will be your last day to be seen alive
If you go, the nation will miss men like you…
Praying I might hear the breathing of God
Breathe the warning like He breathed courage
In the lungs of this man about to die before my eyes
I am starved of visions
To make him hear me cry out to save his life.
I have watched him go to work
And fight for justice the way he does.
And I have watched the moment
The soldiers grab him and throw him in the boot
Escorting him to his death, silent as the story itself.
And my heart becomes pale like the moon
Like the egg-shell beneath this horror my eyes cannot crack
I have not been at rest for all these years
During the day I laugh but during the night I have nightmares
I wake up calling out Ben Kiwanuka, wishing the nation did the same
Wishing all people knew what Ben Kiwanuka did-
The sacrifice he made for all of us; his family, his life-
I have nightmares because the nation he died for forgot his sacrifice
I have nightmares because Ben Kiwanuka still turns in his grave
And he screams aloud every night
Like he did the night the soldiers drove daggers in his chest
And slew his neck and kicked his body and demanded the devil to take his life
He screams aloud because it’s exactly what we are doing
We are killing this nation with corruption and tribalism
And with coldness in our hearts, like murderous soldiers,
We drive daggers into the nation’s chest and slay its neck
And kick its body and demand the devil to take its life.
And Ben Kiwanuka’s heart becomes pale like the moon
To his horror that his sacrifice went to waste
And every night he cries wishing he had stayed home.
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Nightmares is one of the poems in the recently launched poetry collection, The Headline That Morning and Other Poems
The Headline That Morning and Other Poems is a poetry collection by myself, Peter Kagayi and published by Sooo Many Stories. There are 50 poems in the book with wide-ranging themes, from love and disillusionment to politics and to social commentary.
Alongside the book is a CD with 15 of the 50 poems in the book performed by me ft Hawa N Kimbugwe. The book was launched on June 2016 at the National Theatre with an event to talking about the marriage of music and poetry.
Th Headline That Morning and Other Poems (book and CD) are available at BookPoint (Village Mall), The National Theatre (Box Office), Uganda Bookshop, Uganda Museum and you can also buy from the Sooo Many Stories website/text 0783261909 for deliveries.
In Kenya, TheMagunga Bookstore is the place to go
