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World Poetry Day is a time to appreciate and support poets and poetry around the world. Yearly, it is held on 21st of March and is an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) "World Poetry Day celebrates one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity".
To commemorate this day, we thought it would be a great opportunity to share a compilation of some poems that have been written from inside. To maintain confidentiality, authors names have been changed.
Prison Life
Oh prison life!
As tender to me as the comfort of a caring father,
Or the embrace of a loving mother,
As sweet as the scent of lilies in the wilderness,
Or the taste of water in the desert,
Light in the darkness,
You’re beautiful to me.
Age is advancing upon me,
But you have given me the vigour of youth.
My head grows lined and bald,
But you have kept my brain lively and free.
Light in the darkness,
You’re beautiful to me.
By: James Oting, Luzira Upper Prison
Laugh and Love
Jolly, joyful, lovely people, why laugh at love?
We seek it at every sunrise
and sunset. We pray
and live for love, joy and happiness.
Love and laugh, laugh and love.
A happy child loves his anxious parents
And every year cares more for mum and dad,
And to consolidate this love the child respects
his parents, and they reciprocate.
Love and laugh, laugh and love.
And as the child grows he learns his role,
The son loyal to his dad, his sisters faithful to their mum.
Sisters are angered by a brother’s pain, brothers are aggrieved by a sister’s cry, but
they love to laugh together, together they laugh and love.
Love and laugh, laugh and love.
The boy seeks the attention of a girl, hoping to express
his affection. She laughs at his love. They caress
and tease each other. Their love is built on laughter,
their laughter built on love.
Love and laugh, laugh and love.
A wife treasures her husband, a husband adores his wife,
A devoted husband’s love withstands her wintry glares, survives their standoffs.
A loving wife’s respect means that the two can grow
into a manifestation of love and joy.
Love and laugh, laugh and love.
By: Derrick Musime, Kasangati Prison
Academia
Developing, nurturing, preparing every aspect of a person.
Teach, learn.
Instructing and guiding, providing opportunity for people to
progress without discrimination.
Teach, learn.
Assessing conduct, examining performance, challenging learners: preparation for prosperity.
Teach, learn.
Punishing lethargy, rewarding industry, awarding
responsibility.
Teach, learn.
Opening doors, realising potentials, fitting white collars, creating career
prospects.
Teach, learn.
Providing protection from ignorance. Returning learners to the right path.
Empowering us.
Teach, learn.
A centre of knowledge, explaining pasts, making sense of presents,
creating futures.
Teach, learn.
Teach, learn.
Teach, learn.
By: Bill Thomas, Kasangati Prison