We knew the battle was lost
when doors and windows puked
black smoke.
Thatch became wings
of fire that refused to furl
for the drizzle.
Huts knelt
before men
waving logs with crimson tongues.
The sun rose too late
to test its rays against
embers glowing in
Acoli
Lango
Teso
West Nile
Congo
Sudan
CAR
***
© Harriet Anena
Coming up in a collection about the two-decade Lord’s Resistance Army war in northern Uganda.
Journeys Within 