A POEM TO LIFT YOUR SPIRITS!

With all the negative vybe coming around the country I thought of a poem to lift up spirits of my fellow kenyans. Here we go...

The earth feels old tonight,

And we who live and stand on the cold rim,

Face a new day.

It is raining everywhere,

As if the rain were mercy,

As if the rain were peace,

Peace falling on our hair.

Peace falling on our hearts.

Open your hearts tonight,

let them burn!

Let them light a way in the dark.

Let them one by one affirm there is hope for a start:

A new start:

A new leaf to turn in your life:

I say it will flower in our hands,

We shall go garlanded.

There is the fine fresh stuff of faith for a coat:

We shall go warm. We shall go on by the light of our hearts.

We shall burn mightily in the new year.

We shall go on together.

O you who stand alone on the rim of the earth and are cold,

I salute you here!

THE DEATH OF THE INNOCENTS

A child laughs; another cries;
The wife giggles; whimpers;
The man looks around himself and stands up;
He stretches his hands, searching his pockets, turning them up;
No cigarettes, again!
He sighs
He gives his wife a slight peck on the cheek:
Coming back, darling; won’t be long,gotta pee,
He lies,
The only thing that works in marriage.

Off he goes; a hooded cap on his head;
“The School of Hard Knocks” its front reads,
Seeing him, a crooked smile would indeed appear;
Indeed, he has been knocked over many times by life
But still he remains defiantly hopeful:
Things will get better; the Audacity of hope.

He rounds the corner; hands pocketed,
Eyes scanning every object,every picket;
Watching for danger; in the dark heavy night,
A night pregnant with dread and danger;
For this is no man’s land,
The land of Mother earths’ rejects,
Like foetuses thrown away by their mothers; unwanted,
The Land of the scum, the filth;
where danger lies lurking everywhere,
So he knows, here, any minute, may be your minute!
Seeing no one, he continues on, Heavily breathing; in relief.

On the other side,
Two men in blue; seat huddled on their cold, old car,
Each lies immersed deeply in thought,
Thoughts of their own troubles,
Their own fears; the risks of their job.
one nursing an hangover;another a querulous wife;
The radio starts, suddenly,
Crackling to life:
Red alert, reports, armed robbery,
The suspect: A tall man in a hooded cap,
The Search begins.

The hooded man grits his teeth,
The cold breeze piercing his black skin,
His tall frame bearing it all; defiantly,
He swears to himself, as he does everyday:
This habit, I must stop it: Quit smoking!
Only if I could get out of this hellhole!

He crookedly smiles as he sees the small, mabati shop,
The Coke side of life! Bamba 50 hapa!
The enticing charms of the prostitute: capitalism!
Displaying her wares;
His hope renewed; he quickens his steps,
His lungs near-bursting; the addiction; the overpowering desire.
Only sure route to another,
The death of the innocents.

The police car slowly negotiates the bend,
The driver exasperated; damn these potholes!
Like hunting lions, eyes sweep the area,
Suddenly they light up: Look Our Man!
Oh yes, our man! Tall man in hooded cap!
They exit their car, Commando-style,
Feet hit the road: arms drawn.

As the hooded man turns around from the kiosk,
Unison voices meet him: Hands up!
Uncomprehending, he shields his eyes,
The harsh glare of the flashlight blinding him; monentarily,
As he tries to put the packet into his pocket
One boy in blue shouts; watch out!
He is drawing a gun!
He tries to explain:
It is not a gun; only a packet of cigarettes
Do they hear him?
Hot pellets hit him,
On the hand, on the chest, on the head,
Oh God the pain!

As he slowly falls,
The cold ground, arms outstretched meeting him,
Only one thought remains on his mind,
Now delirious with pain:
Why did I have to die?
Only if I had stopped smoking,
I would not have died like this,
Just because of a cigarette packet!
But he knows,
He would have died; some other time;
Cigarettes or not; innocently!
The School of Hard Knocks to the end!
The death of the innocents.

By: Felix Kyalo Kiteng’e,
Nairobi.

TRIBAL CHAUVINISM IN KENYA

Yesterday, i read a piece in the Standard Newspaper which got me thinking of the extent which ethnicity has become so ingrained in the Kenyan polity and society. The story was about a man from the Central part of Kenya who happens to be a Kikuyu. The man had been brought to court on charges that he had made a tribal slur against a fellow Kenyan whose name happens by fate to start with an "o" hence a Luo. The facts of the case were that the Kikuyu man(whose name I fail to recall) was a neighbour of the complainant in the case. On the material day, the accused had forcefully brought out the complainant to the local market. He had then made some tribal slurs against the complainant to wit that the complainant was uncircumcised hence a "kihi" in Kikuyu.

Seeing as the complainant was not willing to get confrontational, the accused tried to undress the complainant. It is at this time that the complainant got on his heels. Then the accused took some stones and threw at the complainant injuring him. The accused was then arrested and charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

Without going into the legal aspect of the above case, this incident should awaken us to the reality that Kenya is at its worst stage of ethnic polarisation which is almost at a tipping edge. It is really saddening that our discussions on weighty matters of national importance are first and foremost determined by our tribal affiliations. It is such blinding ethnicity that has allowed perennial thieves of our public funds to continue enjoying public office without being asked to account for their ill-earned wealth. when the things get hot for them they run to their communities with their bulging bellies screaming...we are being finished!! Perhaps it is time we asked ourselves whether this tribal groupings do help us or they are just mere vehicles of convenience for the wealthy classes!! Because if the top class were really serious on their tribes, we would hear them raise rubble when the poor are harassed by the establishment. But do we hear this? Not to the best of my knowledge! Hence, we should re-evaluate the ethnic discourse in the country to ensure it is not taken advantage of by some characters for their own selfish ends.