Venice masks

Friday 30 March 2018

The Dog in Kivulu - Ralph Bitamazire

The dog in Kivulu,
Thin, bony and yawning;
The dog in Kivulu,
Panting and squatting
Like its master.
The dog in Kivulu,
Barking at naked children,
Children who sing a thanksgiving
As they leave the rubbish heaps.
The dog in Kivul,
Running away from fat flies
And scratching its tail with teeth,
Biting nothing but its own gums,
Swallowing nothing more than its own saliva.
The dog of Kivulu,
Guarding its drunkard master
And the hoard of fermenting millet,
Kwete and malwa in clay-pots.
But the dog of Kivulu
Lies by, with nothing to drink;
Nobody calls it Acaali, the bitch,
It looks on - at the trenches —
And drinks the water from the cattleshed.

A Ugandan man cleans his clothes
at the Makerere Kivulu slums in Kampala
source: Voice of Africa
Ralph Bitamazire (20th century) Uganda
Source: Poems from East Africa, selected by David Cook and David Rubadiri,
East African Publishers, 1996

14 comments:

  1. https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2787646074844666576/7659814838032170754
    Hey Bruce am also a poetry lover from Uganda. I have written several poems which are on my blog(see link). Please check them out and you can post them here for publicity. Am still budding and i hope to put out a collection soon. Thanks. My real name is KATO LOID.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kato - I checked out your blog and really liked it. I have posted one of your poems today. If anyone else is reading this, the correct link for Kato's blog is: http://loidology.blogspot.com/

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  2. I liked this poem when I was in P7 as it came in one of our English language papers.I remember I passed it very well

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  3. I liked this poem when I was in P7 as it came in one of our English language papers.I remember I passed it very well

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  4. One of the most influential poems. This is a linkage to one poet Henry Hallow . Whose poem entitled Building the nations captures more about what Ralph Bitamazire says in this poem. One of the most important in Ugandan decalogue.

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  5. any analysis notes of the poem: the dog of kivuli please?

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  6. I love this poem in particular. I did it on my advanced level literature class. It was one of my favourite. When In holiday I would present it to my family on gatherings and they would enjoy. Thank you Ralph

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  7. Yeah..read about it @ introduction of prose& poetry@ s.5..was so interesting

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  8. i have a question what makes this poem satirical

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  9. what makes this poem satirical

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  10. A true poetic description of the squalid conditions of a Kampala slum, the abject poverty that the dwellers live in and the resignation to their fate that is all too evident. Classic and timeless.

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  11. The dog in Kivulu symbolizes the lower class individuals who sometimes depends from people with certain position but who are irresponsible.
    The dog even though keeps busy to guard the master it is not being motivated and it suffers pests and cruised wounds.

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