EMMANUEL RWOTNGEYO ABWOLA

 ‎I thought our meeting but a passing hour, ‎A fleeting bloom, a roadside flower; ‎Yet Heaven often hides its art ‎Within the quiet paths we start. ‎ ‎The stars have watched the seasons turn, ‎And distance test what hearts may learn, ‎Yet some souls meet by God's design, ‎Their threads entwined through space and time. ‎ ‎Your words arrived like evening light ‎Upon the edge of a weary night; ‎A gentle grace, a sacred sign, ‎Reminding me His plans are kind. ‎ ‎So should the miles between us grow, ‎Or changing winds around us blow, ‎Know this: the prayers that brought us near ‎Will keep your memory bright and clear. ‎ ‎For friendships,as lovely and born beneath His hand ‎Are stronger than we understand; ‎And though tomorrow's road is unknown, ‎No true gift from God walks alone. ‎                                  Emmanuel Abwola  ‎

The dawn had barely tied its golden wrapper around the shoulders of the earth when you slipped away, young as the dew upon elephant grass, gentle as a mother's lullaby. The village waited for your laughter, but only silence answered from the hills. Women wailed beneath the mango trees, and the river carried sorrow on its back. "I cito kwene kara?"cried a trembling voice. Where have you gone, little flower? For Death, that patient hunter, plucks even the brightest blossom before harvest. Yet when the stars gather above the homeland, I hear the ancestors whisper, "Bin gang." Come home. And I know you are dancing where pain cannot follow, your name blooming in our hearts like wild lilies, for those we love never truly die they become the songs  we cannot stop singing.                       ~Emmanuel Rwotngeyo Abwola