I’ve really never paid attention to how I write a poem. Sometimes I just get a pen and write. Or I just type. Sometimes someone asks me to write a poem on a particular theme. Or for a particular theatre production.

There are poems I write once and I like them the way they are. Then there are those I write and re-write and re-write and I won’t stop until I am satisfied with what I feel about them.

There are poems I write in solitude, then those I write in chaos.

I write a poem according to the musicality in my physical setting. I admire Alex Mukulu’s lyricism. He’s my equivalent of T.S. Elliot. Bob Dylan’s poems capsize me into day dreaming. Some movies have inspired me into writing. Bebe cool’s music gives me bad dreams.

I write according to my emotions in a particular situation. I have tried writing some poems using inscape.

I love characterisation, especially when it’s not obvious. I have a female persona I embody to write some poems, especially the ones with female personas.

Rain has a strong force on my writings. Light and darkness are the same to me. I pick my metaphors from my surroundings. Sometimes lines come to me just like that. Other times I make them up. Maybe as I sleep. Maybe at a poetry night.

I hate situational irony. I dislike verbal hypocrisy. I find it easier to write cynicism when I feel like being sarcastic.

I pay attention to sound. I prefer my poems to be read aloud but I don’t consider myself a spoken word artist. I used to like the pentameter but now I just write and think of order later where necessary.

I hate reading my own love poems but I love writing about love.