Am just but a foriegner ,in this vile land,
I find no comfort,i see no peace,
This is alien,the food tasteless,
The water salty,the trees dry quick.
Am just but a traveler ,passing through this valley,
No hope nor future,am doomed to death,
I cant uprooot a grass,the mountains i cant shake ,
The custom is weak ,their grace a nuisance.
Am just but a sailer ,in this violent sea,
Currents beat strongly ,wind betrays me,
Pirates rule this world ,justice a treasure not found,
Rest is scarce ,profit is refutable.
There is this universal respect
For Kenya, before it becomes a colony
A land where rich and poor alike
Knew no divide, only unity.
You see
This is the beauty of Kenya:
Diverse in their ways of life
Yet bound by unreserved love and kindness.
Like threads woven into a vibrant fabric
Each Kenyan heart is connected to another
A powerful force driving them forward
Creating a tapestry of unity and strength.
Kenya kangaroo flying colorful kaleidoscope kite
gnawing nimble gnashy night crawlers on Nairobi’s night
enticing enthusiastic Englewood eagles, filling them with excite
making melodious music, merrymaking magic as they might
Artisan from Kenya worked hard on my locket.
I thought I had lost it, but it was in my pocket.
Have had many compliments on this one-of-a-kind treasure.
It has gemstones of ivory, opal, and it shines beyond measure.
I doubt that I will ever meet the craftsman in this world.
But this locket is valued, the gemstones are swirled.
Artisan from Kenya, know that I love it ever so much.
I wish I could see all of your work, you have a magic touch.
no sun like an African sun
her waters turn a pinkish red
are those zebras or unicorns?
nothing surprises me here
Kenya is a magical place
center of the world
Born in Mambo Thiari, the street of my homeland Kenya.
With wildlife attractions that you can witness
Of the results from the earth's splitting force
Obama’s father is from the same soil.
Close encounters with Africa's hardest hunt
To the world, Kenya is leading the force.
As a safari destination, we have no remorse.
From the gorgeous, captivating plains
To awe-inspiring mountain ranges
With shimmering sunsets and sweet sea breeze
This staggering beauty can never cease.
Our beloved motherland in the continent of Africa
So much to admire beyond the many misconceptions
The warm elixir of Caribbean waters, the veins of our beauty
This beauty is forever true despite what’s on TV.
The people of Kenya will wave and greet.
And no language is our greatest feat.
This is where our motherland is treasured.
In misu, we have been forever measured.
I’ve heard tell of some suicide cult in Kenya;
Poor folk pledged to starve themselves to death
For God’s glory, and so malevolent surgeons
Can harvest their organs for profit in trade.
Well, I’ve been to Kenya, and I can say this:
Mombasa seemed quite exotic with its
Sculpted elephant tusk archway granting
Unfettered access to the Year of the Cat.
The open road to Nairobi was a safari adventure in itself,
Needing no explanation other than a quarter pound
Of the finest black Afghan hashish this side of Kandahar.
While in Kenya, I never once thought of killing myself.
But I did determine that it would be unsafe
To pass out drunk in any public venue
For fear of waking up with a pain in my side
And find I’m missing one of my kidneys. Kenya, dig it.
This is not just talk
This is not just thought
I really mean it
I really Am It
Kenyan
You may not understand how Kenyan
Mimi mgenge mimi ni genge
Kenya is my religion
The altar to my being
The mother to my generations
All father when I am in need
But this does not mean
That I am blind I do not see
The doings without humanity
Even when done in the name of my country
When freedom carries no responsibility
And the criminal becomes justice
When corruption is taxation
And the Preachers are just hungry
When serve and protect
Becomes server and threaten
When power is from the people
But power is not for the people
When all the love is lost
When it is only done for survival
When all humanity is gone
When all kindness is Bought
But as much I see
I dare not speak
And you dare not listen
I can't speak because I fear the people
I will speak only when I become a person
You will only listen when I become a person
But still, Kenya is my Religion
And You still may not understand how Kenyan
Kenyan I really am
I really mean it
This is not just thought
This is not just talk.
I quit
I throw my hands down
and sit, sometimes
they called for reconciliation without
justice
They called for justice without
truth
Now they ask for prayer without
confession, umpteenth,
it chafes
Has dishonesty made you inadequate
to let go the desecration
infringement
negligence
graft
shame of these violations
which bake violence?
Yet another fifth year
our memo calls us to speak
See how they dance
under a canopy of placards
and a forest of words,
a crescendo of noise,
call for peace without unity
hunger hugs not a belching belly
wretchedness forever at
enmity with riches
Fellow man,
the weight been
long and heavy
Le band's gang led
they have a dance,
You got a date, a dicot
conscience, chagrin
It's about time you made
love to your country!
Take a big deep
cast your ballot for
broken toe nails
parched throats
unattended sick
the illiterate
the young dead
wrinkled bellies
and running stomachs
Bow not unto any creed,
tongue, but go forth
eyes closed
and spit into the storm
Puaaah!
I was asked why I always
Give kids on my streets few shillings
Even though
The street has no memory
It will kill me when it needs
It is really selfish
I answered
They have held it together
That’s better than I would
I recognise I am a day away
One bad day away from
Waking up covering my face going to a bank and robbing you
One bad day away from
strapping up and blowing myself in a mall
One bad day away from
buying a gun and shooting the whole lot of you
One bad day away from
Removing your eyes because I did not like how you looked at me
One bad day away from
Slitting your throat at night because I feel like you took from me
One bad away
From becoming a monster used to scare kids to be good
To keep it short
The compassion is to keep me safe
Maybe this street kid is one day away
I have seen the black face of his Kenyan father
With whom he didn’t go farther:
an absolutely Black Papa
Describing not the Diaspora Rappa,
His loudest trumpets for Jomo,
As Barak’s nearly were for The Homo:
Safer A self –reclaiming returnee
Than an ever groping escapee:
Better Kenya’s social leper
Than an American on paper
And heard have I of his unique white mama,
Who wouldn’t the flame surrender to coma,
Rockier getting than Nigerian’s Zuma
And quite the cougar of America’s Puma…
All that for fanciful catchers of History
And zestful peddlers of exciting mystery,
For say it I still
A-top our tallest hill:
The guy was all along full American,
To his boxers so, less Republican
His returns of cheers completely Un African
Ascents of staircases for the Mexican
His oscillating heard during speeches
Electric fan-perfect, no breaches…
Abort this try to find out
And –please- don’t fail to shout:
Ex-president Barrack Hussein
Lost only to the American smoking sin.
When I was in Kenya,
And I heard those words,
I knew we going to get chapter and verse.
It always started long story, short,
But we’re yet to get how short is short?
Would his brothers be involved,
Or the government,
As we’d already been told the trials and tribulations of the Father.
But to our surprise.
we were entertained to the tales of boys and men who worked and toiled
To pots of ugali boiled.
But for all the tales,
And the repetitive journey down memory lane
We sat and wondered where was Tarzan and Jane?
Mike Singh 1/08/2020
NOTE: I have not structured this form with iambic feet or any other meter. I found this form suits my faith in Jesus as LORD, closest to how I feel: SONnet
OCTAVE:
LORD, as morn yields to noon (or dawn) my SONnet will please, tease, release:
I greet thee, having access to Your throne by Jesus
And His sacrifice on Calvary: We pray against the Virus
With a sunshiny name, an aura of a name, "a garland" ...
Corona Virus, COVID-19, or SARS-Cov-2, Thy Hand
Is mighty and righteous, always Righteous, even in judgment
God of Grace and Love, forgiveness and Provisioning
Forgive me my greed, envy, jealousy, smallness and scheming
SESTET:
I intercede for others now ... as I taught in Gauteng, I now follow:
Make a prayer list, or start a Wall of Prayer at home. Workshops in 2019
With the plea: "U give 8 hours a day to your boss, why not time for God?"
All countries that begin with the letter "K" even if I privilege Kenya
Bless KOREAs (both) Kuwait, LORD do "save" - the Middle-East from war
Kazakhstan, and other former USSR republics, now with "ENTERPRISE" (free)
A kaleidoscope
spinning her colors
africas kenya
The wages of sin is death, they say
But in Kenya, the wages of sin is power without say
The more you sin, the more powerful you become
And we learn nothing, while they earn everything
Like it only happens, here in Kenya.
We have a shorter way, to be something from nothing
Maybe through innovation,
Maybe through education,
Maybe through conservation,
Maybe just invention
Of great ideas like m-pesa,
Or create pyramid schemes, lucrative and curative enough they appear
And laugh to the bank then disappear,
Like it only happens, here in Kenya.
Why should we spent hours thinking, if you can think for us
And thinking creatively, creates here in Kenya,
Like create a need and, make it a crisis worse than the Isis
Like quail eggs, and the perceived benefits
Or sugar and maize crises,
Open the boarders to import more,
Enough to kill Mumias and Uasin Gishu,
As we laugh to the banks, as levels of mercury rise in our bodies
Create a commission of inquiry,
To inquire about another defunct, commission of inquiry
The spiral continues,
Life continues,
Like it only happens, here in Kenya.
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