Nancy Kili , your deep belly wail for Darfur is a great revelation of the anguish and the pain whipping the lives of the people every day of God . In Darfur lives are thrashed in mortars of poverty and are grinded unto grindstones of death . In this beautiful but blood jamming poetic rendition . Nancy Kili reveals to the reader how orphans of Darfur are spiked by merciless thorns of war. The death-rimmed and threadbare imagery is revealing of heart-rending emotional , nerve- stalking psychical and mind-boggling physical experiences of war pounded African nation. Darfur ,the land that has lost its salt . Its backside jabbed by stubborn bullets .Its breasts are torn apart by hungry grenades .Its belly persistently ripped apart by blood -loving bayonets. Kili,your message is deep and bold . Your verbal simplicity creates the requisite mood and that mind-pounding rhythm set the tone of your wonderful poetic tone .Poet Kili ,we are blessed to have you as one of our contemporaries speaking against pandemics of war , disease and poverty. TIME OF THE POET REPUBLIC is dipped in exhibiting diversity of ideas , human rights abuses , violence ,political malaise ,poverty , corruption and more . We are proud to profile you Nancy Kili , Human Rights Attorney , Social Justice Activist , Acclaimed Poet and widely published Writer. Aluta Continua-( Blurb by Mbizo CHIRASHA).
HIBERNATION
My old skin is messed up
They say I have dead skins
They are itching!
I scratch them off and they peel off
Falling away as the wind blows them off
Off in to the dust with majesty
Skin rough like the Alligator’s
But yet the Alligator’s is just that way
It’s new!
Inside the big black hole of destiny, I hide
I am going through hibernation
With my eyes and soul closed
As if I am going to be slaughtered in an Abattoir
I am hibernating! I am changing the old and welcoming the new!
The old looks exhausted like a tired slave
The new looks refreshing like a recently crowned King
The old; the past, frustrations, doubt, betrayals,
Self-doubt, emotional bankruptcy, pain, loss, anger
I just hibernated
I took it off, like I take off my clothes before taking a bath
The new; peace, happiness, emotional wealth, joy
Gratitude, self-care
I just hibernated! It’s new!
I don’t wear it like a dress but like a skin and it glows
SUNSET IN DARFUR
Feelings deep like the Red Sea
Emotions fluctuating like flight fares
I want to do everything
Laugh, cry, heal, forget, protest, play the harp
All at once
If these emotions were juice,
I would say it is cocktail
Owls hooting during the day
Could this be another bad omen?
Every time an owl hoots during the day
I feel a sharp pain in my heart
My heart is wounded and it is oozing litres of pus
Sharp pain cuts across my body and soul
Another gun shoot again
Another sharp blade cutting human flesh in to pierces
There is a voice of a sister
I can only hear it as an echoe
Screaming for help as her face is forced to look at the heavens
She cries for justice
I play my harp for the pain is going to be washed away
Like soap washes dirt
The sun rises from the east and sets in the west
A sunset is beautiful
More beautiful than Queens and roses
The sun sets in peace
The sun sets beautifully
The sun will always shine
I want a sunset in Darfur! With peace!
A dawn in Gulu! The dawn looks beautiful
After the breaking dawn earthquake of peace
Sunset in Darfur! Dawn in Gulu!
NANCY KILI is a Ugandan Lawyer, Film Maker, Poet and Novelist. Author of numerous books, she believes poetry is the most powerful tool that can be used to change the world. She has performed slam poetry in numerous Countries which she blends with the sound of her traditional harp, ADUNGU.She has won numerous awards and she is the Founder of Cruise Education and Literacy Centres that aims at mentoring education for self-sustainability and literacy in east and west Africa. She is an activist of gender and equality where she advocates for equal rights for both men and women. She also advocates for peace and reconciliation in war torn areas as an Amnesty attorney.
TIME OF THE POET REPUBLIC( Mbizo CHIRASHA)
Publisher and Originator at TIME OF THE POET REPUBLIC Digital Writers Center (International). UNESCO -RILA Affiliate Artist (Glasgow, Scotland) (gramnet.wordpress.com). Africa OutReach Coordinator (Ihraf.org). 2019 African Fellow for the International Human Rights Art Festival(https://ihraf.org/international-fellows ) .Resident Coordinator of All Africa Poetry Symposium(100tpc.org). Co-Team Member and Poetry Arts Activist at BeZine Arts and Humanities Magazine (Bezine.com, USA). Co-Editor/Curator of SECONDEARTHOFEARTHISPEACE, (USA) (https://worldbeyondwar.org/secondname). 2020 Freedom of Speech/Literary Arts Activism Culture Fellow at PEN-Zentrum Deutschland, (Germany). Co-Editor of Street Voices Volume7 (with Andreas Weiland, German, English). Poet in Residence at the Fictional Cafe, (USA) (https://www.fictionalcafe.com/please-welcome-mbizo…). Founder and Creative Director of GirlChildCreativityProject, GirlChildTalent Festival and Young Writers Caravan (Zimbabwe).
