Trumpeter & Void

by Mulumba Ivan Matthias

Trumpeter

Don’t go to the streets and say:

here I am, a man whose feet

stamped this very road daily.

Here I am, free at last,

after life’s bitter spanking!

Where are those who thought

I couldn’t quench my thirst

with an ice cold beer?

And then you sneer

at those men and women

whose scorn broke your heart

when in the valley of life

you were still trapped.

That same path they followed blindly,

after fortune’s brief visit.

Void

I long for the wakeup call

of the cock, at dawn.

I long for the freshnessq

of an evening breeze,

for the scenery

of undulating hills

bowing to the ceaseless lake.

I long for the commanding presence

of road side trees,

for calm,

for simplicity of life,

in the place I call home.

Mulumba Ivan Matthias is a ugandain poet and novelist currently living in Kampala. He is a valuation surveyor by trade. His first collection of poems titled “Poetry In Motion” was published in 2012. You can read more of his work on his weekly blog.