During my first trip to Uganda in 2006 I was invited to author/professor Timothy Wangusa’s launch of his latest book Africa’s New Brood. Over the course of the presentation Professor Wangusa read selections of his favorite poems from the book, which combines African folklore and proverbs with Christian symbolism. Its main theme is that of growing up in the Ugandan society and what challenges come with growing up in the traditional setting. I was incredibly moved by the simplicity yet deep profoundness of Professor Wangusa’s shortest poem titled Trinity Tree. Before reading it he unveiled a little history behind the poem stating that it had taken him 20 years to write it, and that this poem best embodies his goal which is “to leave behind a body of inventive writing which communicates to my readers a sense of Christian values fictionalized and poeticized”:
Trinity Tree
By Timothy Wangusa
The Father in the root;
The Son in the shoot;
The Spirit in the fruit.
