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Best Poems Written by Hellen Masido

Below are the all-time best Hellen Masido poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Play Me a Violin

this my pain
that never really goes away
has become so much
another part of me
a part that comes and goes
like the changing moon phases

this vicious cycle of hurt in me
just goes round and round
like a ring
and it never seems to cease or halt
and it hurts so bad
it really hurts!
and maybe if i hug myself tight
i could squeeze it put eventually

so let me sit here on this grass
with the rain falling ll over me
let me cry till i find some peace
till this pain,i can no more see
that  these tears mingle with the rain
and i shall feel no more pain
and this cold make my skin numb
for more man y a trying time

here i am all alone
how I've been
how I'll always be
but maybe
just maybe
will you hold m y hand
and squeeze just a tiny bit
so i may feel alone no more
so i may feel
someone listening to my pain
for just this once
for it seems
no one ever understands my tears
maybe I'm just too complicated

so just play me a violin
a slow,sad,soothing song
maybe over this pain, I'll win
and feel much better ere long
then i shall lay on my pillow
and let my last tears follow
and cry one again to sleep
but awake manana with new hope.

Details | Hellen Masido Poem

The Baobab Tree

This fat lady in a dinner dress
Raises its crooked fingers up high
On this moon lit night
The moon is full
It shines through the fingers
Like a scene
Out of a horror film
And if a raven came and perched
On one of this fat lady's arms
I swear my heart would start
And I'd run in terror
Away from this baobab tree.

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Millipede

She's a black cigar
when i touch her crawling body
she curls, like my fist

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Streetkids

Curvy like maggots
six sleep on bare concrete
all wrapped in paper

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The Millipede That Bled

I really didn’t mean to
Btu I stepped on the young millipede
That lay in the path
Of my foot
I hadn’t seen it
I just heard the crunch
Then felt the wetness
On my foot 
When the damage was done

I cringed
Disgusted
And jumped 
Expecting its insides
To be splashed
All over 
My beige carpet

Then I saw some red

My heart shrank
In horror
At myself

I didn’t know
Millipedes could bleed 

I stared for longer
Maybe in disbelief
Or in the hope that
It would curl
Then crawl away
Seemingly merely bruised

I watched
It writhed
It curled its head
The way I curl my toes 
When I feel great pain

My heart shrank
My skin crawling a little
Thinking
I should kill it 
Fast
And cut off its pain
But I could not bring myself
To further hurt
 Millipede that was now still

I took a piece of rigid paper
And picked it up
It stirred a little
And so did my hopes
Then it stilled
Completely
Like I did
A minute later
Realizing what I’d done
And feeling cruel for it

I threw it outside
On the garden outside
Perhaps it would awaken

This I know is a dream
Reality is 
It is dead
Because I stepped on it

Where was it going?
Do millipedes have families?
Do they have lovers?
They go back to
To stay with
And make love
And get baby millipedes

There is still a patch of red
On my carpet
Where the millipede bled
And I feel like crap
As though
Someone strangled my pet cat


And I wonder
How do they feel?
Those who kill other humans
Do they remember?
Do they have a patch of red?
To remind them
Something bled?

I am sorry millipede
Next time I shall try
To watch where I tread

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Fog

Plump clouds descend thickly to earth
They shroud the hills with ashy smoke
I hear they call it fog

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The War In Heaven

The angels fight in heaven
As their swords slash at each other
They light the sky silver
Like a camera flash

Then there is a huge crack
Like a mahogany tree 
Breaking at its stem
I think they have broken
A wooden door in heaven
The sky becomes a sad grey
And the ground wet
As God’s tears fall

God cries…

Or maybe not.

There is another huge crack
As if the mahogany fell
On the roof of my house!
My heart is shaken

I think God
Has hit his mighty fist
On the judges’ bench
And the swords clang no more.

The Master has spoken

And what remains of the fight
Is the soft hiss
Of tears from heaven

I sigh now 
As the rain falls softly
Against the grass outside.

Details | Hellen Masido Poem

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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Kitty's Call of Nature

The little kitten pawed at the ground
Dug out the earth
The way its mama taught it
Then it squatted
And as though recalling something
Looked around
To ensure no eyes were watching

Its eyes met mine-
His, cowrie shaped and green
Mine, big, brown and curious-
And wide eyed
Perhaps horrified
It jumped away
And went round 
The far corner of the house.

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Rabbits- the First Impression

Do rabbits bite?
I sure hope not
‘Cause their fur’s so fluffy
Like my cat’s
And they are well rounded
Fat even,
They look cuddly 
Like a hairy teddy
And I just have to touch them!

Slowly I reach my palm
Pause it above its skin

It doesn’t move away

So I lower my hand
And touch its nose
Gentle
It flinches a little
But stays on 

I touch it again
But this time 
It shies away.
And I smile in relief

rabbits don’t bite after all