Thou Earth Loosed!

The bowels of the earth loosed

Mutinied wrenches

Rebel gears 

The halted grind

Abyss underneath to hell

Soils that won't cover faults

The tectonic plates that are up in arms

Look upon us favourably,

Our feet treading on oblivion

What are our hands worth

Our nerves are blood

When metals crunch,

Even the genius winces

And for the well-meaning pilgrim

Fixing the earth

It is only a matter of time

Before the very soil he rests on

Will give way to the gaping earth 

In response to a prompt by the         Magpie Tales

My Mt. Kenya is up in Flames Tororot

This poem has been published at Eco Walk the Talk, Asia's Global Green Community which features eco-news, insights, living tips and people. I have been humbled twice now to be published in that wonderful forum of kind souls who have passion for the environment in its wide sense. Please visit the site, read their informative articles on what is going around. For the poem below, you could also access it in Eco Walk the Talk here


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My Mt. Kenya is up in flames,Tororot,

The forest is being consumed--

the loss in billions, the pain immediate

My Mt. Kenya is up in flames, Tororot,

All my indigenous trees, the species, the ecosystem

All of them reduced to ashes

My Mt. Kenya is up in flames, Tororot,

Courageous souls have stepped up

Yet, the leaping flames are vengeful

I am here, watching the news

Watching good souls putting out the fire with tree branches

But the flames are also burning up my heart

I don't know what I would tell my children

Of how we lost Mt. Kenya

How will I say the fire consumed it for seven days?

I would look at space with pained expression

And say, "Son, Mt. Kenya burnt before me

That is how we lost her back in the year 2012"

Even before then, Tororot,

Just one wish: Please rain on Mt. Kenya

Please make life grow again

Even if some losses we might never regain.

********

It is a sad happening. For more than seven days now, fire has been consuming Mt. Kenya destroying billions-worth of trees and life. This is a serious tragedy.

This is how the disaster has been reported.

Citizen News

http://citizennews.co.ke/news/2012/local/item/1061-fire-in-mt-kenya 

The Star Newspaper

http://www.the-star.co.ke/national/national/67428-choppers-join-in-mt-kenya-forest-fire-fight 

The Standard Newspaper

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000054471&cid=4 

A Song for My Pilgrim Daughter

To you, my daughter,

I always believed

That you will make me whole

The shattered pieces of me

Of yesterday’s falls;

Your soft hands will heal them

Your cry will sanitize them

To you, my daughter,

I always believed

That we would grow together

Learn when to sleep when you do

Accustom my tired eyes to your light

To you, my daughter,

I always believed

That I would be a hero

That you will not look at my faults

That my esteem will be in line with your faith

And as I hold you in my arms,

Your lightness is very deceptive

In many ways you are heavy with meaning

Your face does not carry sadness nor guilt

Your smile is pure, your laughter is divine

You don’t ask if my hands are dirty

You don’t cover your nose for the soot around

To you, my daughter,

I always believed

That I would make you all you want to be

To whisper to the stars

To eavesdrop the greatest secrets of the milky way

I could sell a few steps of my ladder

Build it upon yours so that you can reach the moon

It will delight me to see you rise

From below, I would be glad that you made it

To you, my daughter

I always believed

That you will be the Explorer of the Universe

To grow inwardly, outwardly

To learn everything, for all knowledge is good

Thus, having grown in wisdom, daughter,

I would be happy if you remain meek and humble

For there is nothing great as quiet wisdom

To you, my daughter,

I will share the secrets of the hills,

The echoes, the reverberations,

I would help you make small baby steps

As a little pilgrim

To you, my daughter,

I always believed

My sun would finally rise.

Tear the Canvas!

Link

There lies the shadow sprawled on the carpet of misery

Touching the hem of heaven with guilt

Whatever feet would walk on it

Remains a mystery 

“Tear the canvas!”

For a prompt of Carry On Tuesday, " I have a Little Shadow". 

Kifo ni Kizungumkuti Kweli: Death is a Mystery

Life Gone Too Soon--- R.I.P. Owen.

Kifo ni kizungumkuti kweli

Sikielewi, sikibaini katu

Death is a mystery

I don’t understand it

Kifo ni kama mlio wa radi

Kingurumapo dharuba yake huipuliza maisha

Death is a rumble of thunder

When it roars, a life is blown away

Kifo ni mwangwi

Ni kama upepo unaovuma kwa kasi

Death is an echo

It is like wind blowing furiously

Kifo ni sauti mwanana

Ni mziki mwororo sikio la mja huitikia

Death is a soft lilting voice

It is a soft music humans hear

Kifo ni uchungu, majonzi, simanzi

Ni jakamoyo linalokata maini

Death is pain, sadness, tears

It is a hacksaw into the liver

Kifo ni njia yetu sote waja

Leo tupo, kesho hatupo

Death is Our Path, pilgrims,

Today we are, tomorrow we are gone

Kifo ni tandabelua

Usiku wa kiza, unaogubika furaha

Death is uncertainty

A dark night, a silhouette of sorrow

Kifo ni maswali yaso majibu

Migongano ya hisia tofauti

Death is a puzzle

A mishmash of varied feelings

Kifo ni jembe dogo la kiserema

La kupalilia maua yaliyonyaushwa

Death is a small hoe

To harvest wilted flowers

Kifo ni lolote lile

La kutukumbusha sub’ra

Death is anything

To remind us of the virtue of patience

Kifo ni gari

Lisilo na dereva, japo wa ajabu

Death is a vehicle

Without a driver, yet a mysterious one

Kifo ni shubiri kwenye koo

Kifo ni pumzi kwenda mbio

Death is an aloe to the throat

Death is fast breathe

Kifo ni kibao kaburini

Kisemacho, “Usinitazame makaburini”

Death is an epitaph

Saying, “Don’t look for me in the cemetery”

Kifo ni mawazo, fikra

Ambayo hatutoizika kaburini

Death is memories, reminiscence

That can’t be buried

Kifo ni furaha, ni sherehe

Japo ya maisha yaliyoisha haraka

Death is happiness, a celebration

Though for a life nipped in the bud

*******

This poem is an elegy to a good friend of mine who passed on. We studied Law together. We were in the same firm together. This morning, I got the sad news that he had passed on. Till we meet, Owen Ndika, till we meet. You took death bravely and Tororot saw it befitting to call you. And as we, mere mortals and pilgrims on this Earth, celebrate your life, may Tororot give us peace and strength. It is difficult for your parents and relatives but let Tororot, the Ultimate Comforter, be with them.

The Speech That All Pilgrims Should Listen To

Poetry is the highest form of art

Calling for refined intuition

The finesse to peer into the Earth’s soul

To ‘laugh’ at her foibles

Poetry is a Laboratory

That the word scientists

Retreat to examine human actions

To ‘satirise’ the affairs of mankind

Poetry is a thankless service

That creative souls pain for

To explain phenomena

To think in the realm of the gods

Life is not any different.

Every second a child is born

A poetic title is written

Scribbled in its cry, emblazoned

On palms of loving hands,

Pilgrim, did you know that that cry

Is dramatic, has pauses, has musicality

Even amidst its irritation and monotony?

Seconds are letters, stanzas years, refrains

Repeated successes and failures, rhyme discipline

Of thoughts and actions, epic a long life, an epigramme

A short, witty life, a sonnet a romantic one—

Poetry is life, pilgrim, make no mistake about it

Poetry is not hidden in big tomes anymore

Not even in poetry collections

The bureaucratic tapes were burnt

And ‘people’ had their way

Now, they own it in their lips

Daily, poets speak to one another

Transmitting wonderful stanzas

We don’t have their names written

Save for the moist in their lips and fire in their eyes

Life can be difficult, like poetry,

In the crucible, we pound experiences

Into terse statements

Many can say a lot, few can say less

Pilgrim, one day I will write my autobiography

In one stanza, capture my sojourn here,

Life is like that—like a poem—

Laughter could jump from a page, sadness linger

Satire smirk, optimism overarch

There is so much happiness as there is so much sadness

There is so much contentment as there is so much unfulfilment

Predator and prey exist in the same jungle

The adrenalin keep both at the edge—

the hunter and the hunted—

the lion and the gazelle are

the characters in the script of life’s drama

their tricks and intrigue is the plot

the end breaks my heart

but the excitement precedes that

This life, pilgrim, is a mystery

I am always shrouded in her befuddlement

On the walls of my house, I have pinned thoughts

Most uncompleted, because thoughts are scared easily

By the frame of time,

This is the Essence of Life, pilgrim,

To discover and explain these realities

The excitement for the process is called Life.

For a prompt of Carry On Tuesday #148, Saturday 10^th March

Task: To write a poem inspired by the title and first line of Merle Haggard’s country song, "Life’s like poetry".

Lenten Journey- Day 12

Urithi  wa kweli

Hatutonyimwa

Kwa sababu hati ya urithi ni takatifu

The Ultimate Inheritance

Is what we can’t be begrudged

Because the will is divine

Lenten Journey- Day 12; March 16^th 2012

Biblical Scripture: Ephesians 1: 7-14

Feel free to explore the Lenten Journey at Cloaked Monk blog

Lenten Journey- Day 13

Ni kipi cha mno zaidi kwetu Warithi

Ila mateso ya Yesu

Iliyotuondolea doa?

What more can we ask, we the Inheritors,

Of selfless sacrifice of Jesus

Through whom we are made blameless?

Lenten Journey- Day 13; March 15^th 2012

Biblical Scripture: Ephesians 1: 3-6

Feel free to explore the Lenten Journey at Cloaked Monk blog

Lenten Journey- Day 12

Ni wapi tutachora mstari, Hija,

Kitendo kitakachotuteua

Kwa kila tunachokidhamini?

Where do we draw the line, pilgrim,

That definitive act, the ‘Rubicon’

For what matters—for all that matters?

Lenten Journey- Day 12; March 14^th 2012

Biblical Scripture: Mark 11:15-19

Feel free to explore the Lenten Journey at Cloaked Monk blog

Lenten Journey- Day 13

Hija, Yesu alikufa ili tuishi

Kimafumbo, ushindi wake

Ulitangaza kifo cha dhambi ya asili

Pilgrim, Jesus died that we live

Figuratively speaking, his triumph

Was the death of our ‘Adamic’ sin

Lenten Journey- Day 13; March 13^th 2012

Biblical Scripture: Hebrews 9:23-28

Feel free to explore the Lenten Journey at Cloaked Monk blog

Lenten Journey- Day 12

Msingi ulo imara, Hija,

Usodharubishwa na mawimbi

Hilo ni thawabu adimu katika imani

A strong foundation, pilgrim,

Resistant to the strongest tempest

Is the best gift to Faith

Lenten Journey- Day 12; March 12^th 2012

Biblical Scripture: Corinthians 3:10-23

Feel free to explore the Lenten Journey at Cloaked Monk blog

A Congratulatory Card to All Women

Today, we are celebrating the International Women's Day. This is no ordinary day. It is an important day for me as I reflect on the wonderful women who have shaped my life in different ways. I might not name you individually here but your names are written in my heart. This poem is a gift to you all.

Link

Dear Women of the World,

My pen’s nib cannot be restrained anymore—

If I were Tororot, this pen would have been dipped

On an inkpot the size of Indian Ocean

To write this message across the hearts of all women

To convey my deepest affections to their cause

My frail hand trembles at your greatness;

Your wombs have carried kings and queens;

Great minds of thinkers have once

Been replenished in Your Essence;

Your hearts, both true and fair,

Have carried the grace of humanity

Even when men, blinded by madness of war,

Have dissented on the true song of your hearts

You have balanced the stead of mankind on

The pedestal that ensured their future

Like all people of greatness,

You have withstood adversity,

Once believed not to vote

Once thought to be inferior

And now, with the Judge of time,

Your appeal is written on the brow of men

That they were wrong after all;

But you have let the dust of the past

Settle in order to allow clear vision

Of the vision;

What declarations or proclamations

Can aptly codify these feats—

To be remembered in the hallmark of history?

You women of the world,

Men have always got it all wrong

They don’t conceive babies

Yet they pass policies and legislations

For babies whose pain they haven’t borne

And in their Greed, they have always,

Unlike you women,

Ate all that the homestead could survive on

They are thinking of conquering everything

The moon, the sun, the wind, the height

Yet, at the very basic level of simple acts

Of kindness, hopefulness and peace

They haven’t discovered a simple invention;

We need women

Women who can change the course of our history

Women who can help us discover our worth

Women who can inspire greatness and kindness

Women who can lead and think of the future

Women who can brave the heat of the sun and

Delight in the awe of the moon

Women who can teach us men to love