This is For You

This is for you

On the brink of losing hope

Tugging at the rope

Standing at the cliff

Before the ultimate jump

This is for you

This is for you

The Silent One

With the sun of righteousness

Lighting up your heart

Yet shadowed by pain of mankind

The wilted flower of love

The plucked feathers of a sweet dove

The dry, parched throats guttural

The systemic errors basically structural

Still, shine rays of hope, Silent One

This is for you

This is for you

That you say are ugly

Tell me, who said so?

Have you looked at yourself in the mirror

And marveled at your beauty?

Have you heard your voice

Replayed the clip over and over?

Measure yourself by your unique parameters

Never let others define what you should be

The same lie travels around the world

That  wafer-thin is the thing

So naturally endowed women

Skip nth meals, endure cruel dieting

Hit the aerobics from Monday to Monday

With sorrow, with lives most hollow

Al l with the aim of becoming Naomi Campbell

Quit it, sisters, healthy is the keyword

Some were born slim, others fluffy

Some were born light, others dark

Some were born tall, others short

Be yourself, there is only one template of you

Be happy, find beauty within you

This is for you

This is for you

The  herdsman

What story is there for you

When you sleep in the rains with your cows?

Or walk across to the border to search for pasture?

Year after year, you keep them

Even amidst the dried riverbeds and dusty soil

You put your life to risk, you are ready to die

For those animals

This is for you

This is for you

The Child of 8-4-4

Who lived through maziwa ya nyayo

To the Kibaki era

Lived through insha and ngeli

Survived factorization and L.C.M and G.C.D

Escaped licking acids from shaky pipettes and burettes

Managed through Kiu, KIlio Cha Haki, Looking For a Rain God,

Amezidi, Coming to Birth, Walenisi

Endured methali, semi, tanakali za sauti, kinyume, kukanusha

Fasihi, tamthilia, mashairi, ufupisho, taarifa, isimu za lugha

And now walking around with soaked knowledge

Looking for a job, unemployed, frustrated, disenfranchised

This is for you

This is for you

Yes you, you the weaver of words

You who suffers writer’s block

Labouring for that one poem

That will carry a message

Through the generations

Adored in some year like 4057

Writing with a fire in your bones

And compassion in your heart

For the sheer love of the art

This is for you

C) Lorot Salem 2011

Weep Not, Child

Image credit: above

I feel your remorse

The tears welling up in your eyes

For Mother Africa

As you suckle her dry tits

Weep not, Child

Weep not, Child

When your limbs are ripped by grenades

And your eyes are fed with the nakedness of Mother

In greed, in corruption, in dictatorship

Fed with hopelessness

Fed with misery

Fed with power-hunger

You see, Child

If Mother Africa was cruel enough

She would have flapped her tits to the sun

And said, “ I curse you all, let the sun and my tits

Bear me witness: you shall never know peace!”

If Mother Africa was impatient

She would have escaped to other distant lands

Get another husband and move on

If Mother Africa had no hope for us

The sun would burn with less passion

The wind would blow with less pomp

The wildebeest would never cross Mara

The hyena would never laugh

The birds would never chirp

But, such things, child

Mother Africa wouldn’t do

Never will:

Take counsel, then, child

Weep not, child

Wipe your tears

Laugh again

Weep not, child

You have cried for far too long

How long should a child cry?

Your sorrow you’ve poured to the night

A dark, solitary night of dejection

Many a tear you’ve shed to fill lakes

Many a whisper you’ve held back

For fear, for sheer fear

Till when, child?

Till when?

Step out in the sun, child

Feel its warmth burn your skin once again

Go to the rain, child

Feel the drizzle washing away your sorrow

Go to the hills and mountains, child

Feel the breath-taking beauty, inhale the fresh air

Go to the rivers and lakes, child

Feel the ankle-deep waters wash away your dusty feet

Smile again, laugh again, hope again

Weep not, child.

C) Salem Lorot 2011

Paradox of Man

It is a tragedy that when man

has conquered the moon

flew plane

invented metal detectors

constructed complex bridges

he is yet

to build a simple bridge

to fellow heart

or be a conduit of happiness

or shimmer hope.

C) Lorot Salem 2011