- His art, Walk My Path, showcases the continent as a region of boundless opportunities.
- This is a timely anthology that lays bare the troubles of Africa in the light of the great opportunities it swims in.
- In a nutshell, he reminds the youth to stop passing the blame and avoid blame games but instead, confront all the challenges with vigor and conviction.
Author: Harlord Ankwasa
Publisher: Heartmenders Magazine Media Inc.
Harlord Ankwasa’s Walk My Path is a masterpiece revelation of the beauty of Africa that is knocked off in the vast ocean, raided by opportunists who are not only greedy but also selfish.
Walk My Path brings into perspective the dilemma of the jobless graduates, who struggle with their families to have a decent meal even as the insensitive leadership clique lives large, engaging in misplaced and unreliable elephant projects.
The poet, in his “A Citizen You’re”, questions leaders for buying even a mere salt from a foreign land when such products can be accessed locally or from deserving neighbors.
The poem highlights the dream of the innocent unsuspecting generations, who are stuck with both reality and hope, that one day, the strings of hatred, despair and joblessness will be loosened.
Written by Harlord Ankwasa, a youthful Ugandan poet from Kabale in Uganda, the piece unites well-meaning Africans with his creativity, hence expressing the feelings of those who might have been enfranchised by the actions of those in authority.
His creativity has earned him both national and regional feats, having founded the Rise Africa Group, a poetry forum that has played a crucial role in enhancing the position of Africa among other continents in the globe.
Having joined the industry nearly a decade ago at only 15 years, his poetry fire has kept burning, taking the world by thunder in international magazines such as Sailors Magazines, New Best African Poets 2020, and various anthologies.
His art, Walk My Path, showcases the continent as a region of boundless opportunities.
This is a timely anthology that lays bare the troubles of Africa in the light of the great opportunities it swims in.
The poet uses this approach to express his dissatisfaction with leaders who have failed to direct Africa on the path of development and progress but instead sink it into the hole of destruction and mismanagement.
In his poem, “A Citizen You’re”, he hits out at leaders who, for selfish interests and malice, refuse to empower their own and instead build foreign nations by buying goods and services under the pretext of quality.
Despite Africa being referred to as “Mama Africa”, there is nothing to celebrate as the pride of the motherland is eroded by the actions of leading insensitive actors in the continent.
The poet opens up in the first poem by expressly revealing the content of a dream he had.
He says, In my childhood, I always had a dream.
It is this dream that the poet goes ahead to explain that is dimmed by those who are not keen on having a better Africa.
The available opportunities in his first poem, as captured in the second line of the first paragraph, A dream that talks of inner beauty, gives the conviction that Africa has all that it needs to meet the needs and wishes of the people.
Despite attempts by many youths to explore education, in the cloud of misery and struggle, the poet shares his frustrations with his readers when he pens, I was ready to pounce on anything for me to sour, which in essence indicates desperation.
Even as opportunities lie in Africa, the fading fortunes haunt scholars and they die without any employment despite having qualifications for various job opportunities.
In the poem “Sinking Below”, the poet mourns the death of Africa that is already dead and buried.
He pensively inquires if there is such a time that reason will prevail.
Walk My Path commits readiness to ask hard questions on governance, confronting the ills boldly and firmly without a second thought.
In the poem “Weird Confessions”, he says Africa is acidic and has claimed many souls; many innocent citizens have fallen on the way as a result of the frustrations and misgivings of the status quo.
In his submission, the poet justifies that there should never be any justification for the injustice meted out to the masses.
He says in the poem “Weird Confessions”, Life so undesirable, unadmirable…dreams no more at hand, shattered.
The fears of the poet are well elaborated in the subsequent poems in the book, referring to the continent as a place where all the abundance dwells.
While referring to Africa as a wonderful flower giving life to many, he identifies greed, hatred and materialism, which won’t give Africa a chance to progress.
Despite Africa not having any hatred, which he refers to as a thorn when he says, A flower so beautiful at heart, without thorns to hurt, opportunists are always fast to discredit the continent for their own selfish gains.
In Walk My Path, the poet candidly argues his case that love abounds in Africa, even though political actors would never love to hear it.
In the poem “Does He Really Still Love Me”, he says no kind of intimidation will erode the good qualities in him, confirming that Africa won’t turn away her head from her people.
He understands in the poem there is a need to be all that you are, wherever you are, without changing character traits, claiming that, We’ve been through thick and thin, trekked through fire, hand in hand, we stayed.
The bitterness which he equates to betrayal, referring in the poem ‘Does he really still love me? ‘that he hung on, trusting blindly, and will persevere sightlessly.
Walk My Path, however, gives hope to all the hopeless, the jobless and those who have lost focus in the continent.
He assures them of the need to dream and continue dreaming.
In the poem “Love is young”, the poet says it is still too early to lose hope in life, claiming that opportunities still abound to those who go out to venture.
He says it is self-gratifying to dare and that nobody can dim a dream, for dreams are daring, focused and self-fulfilling.
He encourages all who are troubled and shaken to remain focused and do all that they can when they can.
In a nutshell, he reminds the youth to stop passing the blame and avoid blame games but instead, confront all the challenges with vigor and conviction.
He says Play Truth and Dare since love is like a baby…foolish, stupid, silly and it doesn’t matter how it was done, that all that matters is that it is done.
He pleads with Africans to be patriotic in order to showcase the good about the continent, which some opportunists are hell-bent on destroying.
He points out that Africa won’t stop loving her people, since the love it possesses is natural and comes without regrets.
Ankwasa confirms that people who love Africa should only stop loving Africa when they die. Otherwise, there would be no reason to do so.
He pens, When love gets old, withdrawal is allowed, for love lives up to the age of doom.
Against all the backdrops associated with Africa, the poet reminds Africans of goodwill to remain put, steadfast and focused.
The poet uses a range of poetic devices to express his feelings about the continent.
One outstanding device used is symbolism, which he uses vividly from the onset in the choice of titles of the poems.
Walk My Path depicts the use of symbols, as the path does not depict a road, to say the least.
It symbolizes a choice that has to be made for the realization of a dream that is not only big but futuristic.
The use of imagery is also captured in his piece.
Ankwasa begins his piece with a childhood dream that talks of inner beauty, a dream that talks so vividly, which is a clear manifestation of both imagery and personification.
There is also a great use of irony as the poet expresses his love for Africa but goes ahead to say, It was a decision of the clouds, one beyond my understanding – I love you reasonless.
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The poem puts into perspective that despite loving the continent, there are truly other factors to contemplate otherwise.
