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Constance Obonyo

Constance Obonyo

UGANDAN WRITER

 

Profile

My name is Constance Obonyo. I am a graduate of Law from Buckingham University. At the moment I am aspiring for a Parliamentary seat. It is a special seat in Parliament reserved for women and it covers a whole district. Nominations for these seats will be in November.

 

Creative Work

Children's Poems

Love

Love is
Like a peach hibiscus
It tastes
Like deep pan pizza
It smells
Like lavender
It looks
Like gold
It sounds
Like Kwazulu Natal
It feels
Like bath salts
On my skin
Oh love,
What a prize!

Anger

My anger
Mostly latent
Sometimes
Bursts forth
Unexpectedly
Overwhelming me
Like a volcano
In an extinct plug
It explodes
From the inside
Till I shake,
Helpless
As a leaf!

Sea Waves

1. The sound of the sea
Wishy washy
On the sea shore

2. The waves in the sea
Slipping and slapping
The sea shore

3. The swaying waves
Of the sea
Swishing the sea shore
In the sea breeze

4. The shock waves
On the sea
Wheezing and wild
In the sea storm

My Imagination

My imagination
As vivid as a carnation
Like the patter of rain
Upon my brain
Focused on yonder terrain
More real than rain
Is my imagination

My destiny
Not as vivid as a daisy
Nor as the patter of rain
Upon my brain
Though focused on yonder terrain
Not as real as rain
As my imagination

Break Time

The school
Playground
With children
At break
Teems
Like bees
In a hive
One on top
Of the other
Creeping,
Sliming,
And nauseating me
Till my skin
Crawls with
Goose pimples

 

Reflection

Why poems? I thought I would have something different to show case apart from prose, prose and more prose.

I have never looked at myself as a poet. In fact I never thought I could write a poem that anyone would appreciate. It was only after I joined FEMRITE about five years ago, that I tried my hand at it.

I created my first poem, The New Green by accident. Some members were writing some war stories about women in Northern Uganda. A friend suggested I could write a poem or two for possible inclusion in the Anthology, to liven it up. I wrote two poems and one of them was included in the Anthology - Today You Will Understand.

I was excited, so whenever the opportunity presented itself, I wrote a poem. I think I can now cautiously refer to myself as a poet, having had several others published in various Anthologies.

All the above children’s poems were published in an Anthology for Primary Schools. It was a Poetry Poster Project for schools, where poets collaborated with artists and the results were a fabulous colour book, The Butterfly Dance.

All the above were published, save for the first one, Love. The reason? It was too advanced for the children. However, I did not mean to write about romantic love, but the love that can exist between two people, even between a parent and a child.

I tried to describe things that make me happy. I thought, those same things were likely to make a child happy, so I included them.

Love and anger are both emotions and the two poems, Love and Anger, were meant to explore these emotions. The one about anger was meant to explore poetic imagery as well. It explored the kind of geographical physical features that Ugandan children are likely to identify with.

Sea Waves was meant primarily to identify the use of alliteration in poetry. Although Uganda is not bordered by any sea, I felt the children could easily relate to it because they are familiar with Lake Victoria and can easily relate the two.

My Imagination was meant to introduce the use of similes in poetry. It also has a lot of rhyme in it, which children easily identify with. Break Time was meant to introduce metaphorical language to the children. Also break time is an integral part of a child’s life. Often, it is a time of great relief, as the children are let loose to go and play. However, the child in the poem is not happy. It is supposed to be a reflective piece.

The cultures reflected in the pieces are not necessarily peculiar to Uganda. Love and anger are universal emotions. The sense of pleasure the poet derives from the sound of the sea waves and the irritation the poet feels at break time are also universal themes. The imagination in My Imagination, is reflective, which is also a universal theme.

The only unique aspect to the Ugandan way of life would probably be the physical geographical features described in Anger. The hibiscus in Love is also a Ugandan flower. However the song Kwazulu Natal is from South Africa.

 

Publications

I contribute feature articles for The Daily Monitor newspaper every week. They are magazine feature articles on homes, building and design. I have also contributed articles and Book Reviews for The Observer newspaper. Some years ago, I contributed articles for the Women and Men magazine of The Daily Monitor newspaper. I have a couple of short stories and some poems published in Pumpkin Seeds and Other Gifts and Talking Tales, two recent FEMRITE Anthologies. At the moment, I am writing a novel. It is a historical fiction novel set in the 1970s during Idi Amin’s reign. I am also working on a children’s story book.



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