You ask me what you mean to me
Day after day,oh so patronizingly!
I just never have the right words…
And when I do,
It’s the wrong perspective.
Magical times when I have both,
It’s the courage I lack.
But still you poke
Still you insist
Completely oblivious of these facts
Forging on relentlessly
Trying to find a place in my life
A habitat in my mind
…shelter in my heart
Still you have no idea!
Still you’re clueless!
That your very presence
Is enough to keep me centered.
It’s the one thing that still makes sense
Out of all this pandemonium and madness
This mangled, bubbling, heaped mess
That I call my life;
Concrete proof that my sanity’s intact
While you’re driving me insane;
That’s you.
The constant reminder that I’m a mortal;
That even though I act like it at times,
I’m not supernatural;
That’s you.
My emotional garbage-collector
Who never asks for payment
But keeps doing his job loyally
Lovingly,willingly
Never complaining
Always collecting…
That’s you.
The one person that waits for me
To come around
With patience that even Job would admire
That’s you.
Yet you have it,
Every ounce of patience you require
To unwrap me… to watch me unravel
Layer by thickening layer
And still be waiting
To piece me back together
After I’ve fallen apart and crumbled
That’s you.
You’re the only star I see in all the constellations
Constantly mirroring the sun’s reflections
The simplicities in my life…
That’s you;
Melting chocolate on my tongue
That’s you
My pink skies, my grey skies, my blue skies
That’s you
The John Legend song I can’t get out of my head
That stupid rom-com I can’t stop thinking about
That’s all you.
You’re my universe…my everything
Yet you aren’t my anything
You’re the opportunity that won’t last forever
The something that I should make my something
Rid myself of the what ifs and the maybes…
That’s what you are
That’s what you mean to me.
But please don’t ask me again.
This was hard.
This poem was written by Angwech Faith Kirabo Wacha, a student of Nabisunsa Girls School and a member of the Rhymers Poetry Club. At 18, her work is popular amongst her peers and some schools already use her work in their syllabi. She wrote this poem during her Senior Four vacation.
#SoooManyLanterns is our collaboration with The Lantern Meet Of Poets where we publish poems by students that the Meet has inspired and trained. Read more about The Lantern Meet’s schools outreach programme here: #SoooManyLanterns: A Lantern Meet of Poets and Sooo Many Stories collaboration
[…] Now this poem will remind of high-school love and you will want to relive those moments. In this poem, the persona confesses her for a guy who has been pressing her and asking her what she means to him. You will be reminded of those lines you used in high-school to ‘vibe’ innocent daughters of Eve. Those lines like, you are the constant reminder that I am a mortal even though I act supernatural, you’re my emotional garbage collector that does his job loyally, and you are the melting chocolate on my tongue. However, the best is saved for the last when the persona (the lady) asks the guy never to press her again concerning this matter claiming that “this was really hard.” This poem was written by Angwech Faith Wacha was performed by Abenawe Celia. Read the original poem here […]