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By Omadang Yowasi
Some conversations do not end with death. They continue through memory, inheritance and the pieces of those we have lost that remain within us. In The Bomb, Ugandan poet Omadang Yowasi reflects on a deceased father through an intimate and unsettling conversation between the living and the dead. Bones become more than remains; they become memory, ancestry and a metaphorical bomb inherited by the son.
my father is a fossil
no, an ancestor by default.
by default i mean
i’m his son and not impotent.
i talk to his remains
like in a resuscitation
or a daydream by the yard
& he’s polite than before.
his choice of words
mesmerize me like a blue bulb.
we talk about names
& he laughs a great deal.
my father’s bones are bombs
that talk to me with a shiver
but won’t detonate in my eyes
since i’m part of the bomb.
— Omadang Yowasi
Author Bio
Omadang Yowasi is a Ugandan police officer, writer and poet. He is the author of two books, Tour of Duty: A Handbook of Modern Policing (2026) and War Ulcers (2024).
His passion for writing grew from his love of reading, although the demanding nature of policing in Uganda often limits the time he can devote to his literary work. In 2026, he was longlisted for the Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) Poetry Prize.
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