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Leaving For Campus

i want to freeze this moment
to paste all this feelings
into one moment in time
these smells
theses thoughts
these sounds around me

the tuk tuk i am in reaches town
and from the mosque nearby
the mwadhini calls out loud
"Allah Akbar"
the faithfuls;
men in stark white robes
and women in shimmering black buibuis
hurry on
to the dome roofed mosque
for their evening swala

the tuk tuk
comes to a halt
infront of the booking office
of the bus i shall travel with
there are many other travelers
like i

i alight the tuk tuk
pay the driver
and tell him asante
after he carries my suitcases
to the place i shall sit
to wait for the bus

he drives off
rickety and noisy 
like all tuk tuks are
and i think nostalgically
that that's the last tuk tuk ride
i shall have
in a long long time to come
i doubt if they have them in Nairobi
at least not as many as here, in Kilifi

neither is the air as warm as this one
i know Nairobi will be cold
and i know i shall miss this humid air
so warm
like a lover's breath on the neck
and so teasing with scents of this and that
all of them elusive
one time there is a tinge
of the murky salty sea scent
the next
there hangs in the air
a sweet scent of feminine Arabic perfume
and then later
that of frying garlic;
somebody's cooking pilau somewhere

i feel hungry already
i shall have to buy some fries
to eat on the way

matatus pass by me
the conductors asking me if i would like to get on
i smile and shake my head
i have somewhere else to go
they speed past me

sighing, i look above
the street lights glow lemon yellow
they light the town
in a golden hue
and up above still
God's light bulbs
light up the clear coastal sky
in tiny fluorescent spots
like diamonds on a black dinner dress

and i wonder
is it possible
to touch them stars up there?

they look so far up high!

a bright one stands out
like Venus at twilight
it winks down at me
and makes me smile
they may be far
but one journey then the next
may take us closer
and closer to them

i have my own stars to touch
and my journey tonight
is another one
to take me closer to them

who knows if humans can ever touch stars?
only time will tell
i guess



*asante- swahili word for "thank you"
*mwadhini- the person who calls to Muslims at certain intervals to go to pray at the mosque
*swala-  prayer

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