My world and words: Kabedoopong Piddo Ddibe'st

Kabedoopong Piddo Ddibe'st

Why Do I write Poetry?

My name is Kabedoopong Piddo Ddibe'st, a young published Ugandan poet; born, raised and living in Kitgum, an Acholi by tribe. At the time of writing this, I am not in Kitgum but in another district.

1— First and foremost reason is God. I felt a strong urge to write when I was a little boy of fifteen. At that time, I had just finished my Primary Leaving Examination (P.L.E), when I started by scribbling lyrics in Luo Language, hoping to become a musician like Lucky Dube when I grew up some day. I believe that that instinct was a gift from God, an aptitude that was inborn in me.

I completely credit my writing to God as the the author of life, meaning God is the greatest poet.

I don't force or forge poems, they come by themselves to me to unleash.

If poems don't come naturally to one, one should better not write them at all.

2— Secondly, my early childhood experiences exposed me to all sorts of low life; one of which is war. If I write about wars today, it doesn't mean I like wars or that I am warmonger, but it is just that I would like to inform the world about how dangerous wars are in human life. One might wonder that which wars is he referring to. Well, if anyone wants to know about that — I mean the National Resistance Army war(1981-1986) and the Lord Resistance Army war(1986-2006) in (Northern) Uganda. Not only would I stand up to condemn such wars, but also any humanitarian body or anyone who experienced any war in his or life could raise his voice.

Therefore, as I grew up, I felt that heavy urge to write down what I experienced, just like Isaiah in the Bible.

To me, the war was a blessing in disguise. It made me who I am today.

3 — Friends and other writers compelled my childhood great desire to write into reality. I am a avid literature reader, and (not boating) I read the works of great writers like William Shakespeare, Okot p' Bitek, Ngugi wa  Thiongo, Chinua Achebe among others. And this, boosted my writing experience, because I am more of a self taught student of literature than a classroom-taught writer, as many writers out there are.

If I can still trust my memory, I can remember my Literature teacher at Kitgum Comprehensive College (Mr. Rackara Simon Peter aka Raska Simon Peter) congratulating me upon the brilliance of my first poem presented to him to read in 2012. I could feel how happy he was reading it, before telling me to keep on writing. He wrote his first novel that year too, whicg he gave to me to read. Today, I am an amateur freelance poet. Besides, a lyricist, playwright and novelist.
Would you like to hear me sing my songs? Hahaha.

4. Besides the early childhood experiences, when I grew up, I found that there was really a great mess in the bellicose government characterized by corruption, tribalism, nepotism, despotism, poor education, acute poverty, cultural degradation and things as such — all of which needed to be voiced about for correction.

It was because of poor education system of the country that made me not join the university I was admitted to four consecutive years.

5. Last but not least, my writing lyrics exposed me to the world of literature, especially poetry, greatly. It should be noted that I wrote lyrics for three consecutive years ( only a few closed friends know about this), which made me to develop the desire to venture into the greater complex literary world. And the support and experience got from this greatly helped my writing.

If it were not for all those above, my dream to become a writer would have remained a never-come-true dream like the dream of United States of Africa.

Setu, January 2018