Thursday 22 March 2012

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


Wednesday 21 March 2012

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


~




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


The Star Newspaper



The Standard Newspaper





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.




Tuesday 20 March 2012

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". 

Monday 19 March 2012

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.

Friday 16 March 2012

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 10th 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 16th 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 15th 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 14th 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 13th 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 12th 2012
Biblical Scripture: Corinthians 3:10-23
Feel free to explore the Lenten Journey at Cloaked Monk blog

Thursday 8 March 2012

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




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