Essays

One Poem

When they ask how I’m doing (2023) I could be normal and say I’m okayOr I could unravel before youopen my scars in the hope that you’ll find meinteresting. I could tell the truth,tell stories of the three-horned creaturesthat pass…

One Poem

Firecracker (2024) Apocalypse. I swear these hands where poetry pours out of were once capable ofruin. Unlike you, I will not pretend I haven’t killed a moth before, snatched its frailwings from a burning lamp. Not to save it but…

Number Five

I My name is Samuel. People here, they call me Sammy. I will turn thirteen in November. On that day, if there will be nothing more, at least there will be a cake of many colors set on the old table with…

What’s Broken? 

The online exhibitions of broken things in Uganda have proved a hit with many people. What’s really at stake?

Till the End

Salim Saleh has outgrown a view of him as the Ugandan president’s
rascally brother. What does the future hold for him?

Rutocracy

William Ruto’s muscular style of leadership has alienated many
of his supporters. What kind of Kenya does he want?

Important Hair

African hair is worth philosophizing. How we do it is totally up to us.

Good Kid, M.A.A.D City

It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends…
—Joan Didion, “Goodbye to All That”

Counting

Diary of a Grocery Clerk, Feb. - March 2024