Sunset Silhouettes
The sun will close its books on a day like any other
round up its warmth and retracts the lights to feed another
in degrees it recedes, slipping in, out, and about
the flaming orangey clouds half-dipped in the horizon
a dazzling hopelessness courts the night
The sun will close its books on a day like any other
but can it account for the slumped lone silhouette
faceless beauty that hovers in its foreground
matching its sadness with the splendid sunset
a dazzling hopelessness encamps the soul
the final charm of a dying day.
Sunset Silhouettes is Linda Adede Ongola’s debut poetry anthology which features a hundred poems written mostly in free verse and of the confessional genre. It covers themes of mental health, theodicy, love, betrayal, and corruption among other social concerns.
Linda Adede Ongola
Nationality: KenyanDate/Place of Birth: 7th June 1976 – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Education: B. Ed (Arts) from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
As a sixth-born among eight siblings, raised in a quiet part of Mombasa, life geared Linda Ongola towards solitary activities such as reading; and later, as introversion held stronger, writing. Until recently, all her writings would eventually grace waste-paper baskets. This changed when a close friend persistently suggested she take it seriously, and against her better judgment, Linda actually did. Better judgment can be a prejudiced impediment to creativity, so it mustn’t always win.
A wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a trailing spouse who was once a career woman – a myriad of life’s facets compelled her to write. But above all, as one who has struggled with faith, failure, the human condition and depression, she just wanted to pen down quietened thoughts that many might share.
Linda’s family was, without fail, the light in her; their unconditional love had literally kept her alive. They continuously honoured her morbid sense of humour, a cloak without which she wouldn’t endure.
Austin Macauley Publishers
