KÌÙRA
KABIRI
SAHARA
The Sahara Suns
burns intensely
With such a sad
madness gravity
Turning brown
earth
Into a dirty dusty
bath
The gales in
rounds rows growls
Gusty gusts swirls
in brutal brawls
The dry Harmattans
blows
And steals with it
our earth
The humid Monsoons
flows
And takes with our
breath
The thirsty Trade
winds lows
And walks with us
to her hearth
O God! Divine
Master of our gone
What wrong have we
done?
The sky has shut
her womb
This sun daily
sends us to tomb
Her riotous rays
allover comb
Burning out life
faster than blasting bomb
Thaai! Mulungu,
Ngai wa Agu na Agu!
Is it for the
Mûgumo we cut down?
To pave way for
‘economic’ infrastructures
Is for the tunnels
of death-severe structures
That are
channeling all of River Mathioya!
Taking away all
her tributaries to their obituaries
In disguise of
feeding the City’s future
With the recess
that's lost to the oceans
Is it for the
forests we have slayed?
To put up palaces
and mansions-big bungalows
For titles and
status in the sick society
Is it for the
tributary channels we grabbed?
The riparian beds
and paths we stole?
To pave way for
the great gated communities
And spectacular
skyrocketing apartments
Is it for the
cheap China dumping wastes?
We imported in the
affordable plastics and polythene
And threw away
haphazardly anywhere
Degrading the
beauty of our surroundings
Chocking and
clogging everything
That has angered
you Mother Earth!
God, our
forefathers used to feed on Manna
Wild honey
pregnant from hollow trees
Wild food pregnant
from our fertile earth
There were
potatoes and sweet potatoes
Cassavas and yams;
arrowroots and cocoa yams
All rich from our
generously gestating earth
Traditional
medicine was available and affordable
From plenty of
medicinal plants-barks, roots and leaves
Berries and
cherries were many in bushes
In the surrounding
fields, forests and shrubs
Greens and veggies
freely grew from the weeds and seeds
By roadsides
Stinging-nettles bred abundantly for the landless
Different Fruits
were plenty-in season all year round
Where did all this
bounty go?
Is it with the
introduction of the GMOs?
Tata Nyasaye!
Sahara is sick
Ee Mulungu! We are
weak
Pestilence in us
severely sticks
Sucking us
stealthily like ticks
Soon we will all
sadly sink
Soon we will go
and stink
Quick in just a
single wink
We will flash in
an eyes blink
There are no bien
Benguela anymore
There are no
perennial, extant equatorials anymore
There are no
treasured, torrential tropicals anymore
Kalhari is
conquering, Chalbi is cheering, Dakar is deserting
Thirsty deserted
Namib- extinction is swiftly encroaching
The severe
Sossusvlei dry dunes are quickly approaching
Africa is drying,
Sahara is sinking, she is last blinking
O! Land of plenty
and beauty is rapidly dying!
BLACK WOMAN
Black Woman! Where
begets your beauty?
Yet, a flower
flourishing alone, in the wild wilderness
Black Woman! Where
begets your pretty?
She is gold, ebony
coated
She is gem, cocoa
roasted
She is precious,
Black Woman!
She is marble,
gravel of granite
She is pebbles,
pellets of poverty
She is diamonds,
ore of Kimberly!
She is a flower,
flourishing free and wild
She is a rose,
humble though with thorns
She is Black
Woman, what a woman!
She is yellow sun,
scion of sweltering Savanna sadness
She is golden
moon, offspring of shimmering night-emptiness
She is silver of
stars’ sequins, Black Woman!
She is splendour
of the sky, crayons of coal
She is grandeur of
the galaxy, dazzle of diamonds in black night-Black Woman!
She is majesty of
the universe, sparkle of silver in light-a magnificent woman!
She is sparkle of
seas, spills of oil
She is radiance of
oceans, paints of tar
She is resilience
of River Nile, Black Woman!
She is darling of
morning, sister of night
She is tranquil of
eventide, distant relative of light
She is twilight
twinkle before night, Black Woman!
She is peace of
the night, daughter of black light
She is quietude of
calmness, sister of blankness
She is symphony of
silence, Black Woman!
Black Woman! Where
begets your beauty?
Flower without
follower, garden without guardian
Farm without
farmer, coffer without custodian
Orchard without
attendant, winery without brewery
Black women where
cometh from your pretty?
WONDERING WANDERER
Where goes the
soul
After its
existence extinguishes
Agu never told us
of the punishment
To where goes the
soul
After its earthly
banishment
Where lives the
spirit
After its body
perishes
Me, us this verily
astonishes
Does the soul
forever wanders?
Waiting for its
beloved long laid to wake-
A shred of
clean-licked disjointed bones
As Missionary’s
insights gave:
“The soul goes to
Nyene, Mwenenyaga
While the body
here decays!’
Are souls
wandering wanderers, I wonders!
Do souls flow like
blows?
Like spirit of God
flowing, filling the earth
I am constantly
confused as the religion refused
For catechism and
traditions conflicts
I am told Agu
practices were troubled taboos
That litters the
soul as flies’ spoils what perfumes oils
The Pale Man with
a Missionary cloth and a big book in hand
Viciously said:
Agu practices were witchcraft sacrifices to gone evils
Agu stood his
ground they were offerings to Ngai his people’s God
Yet the same
catechism taught of Abraham and Abel, Samueli and Eli
Of Israelites and
Levites, of Elijah and Elisha-prophets and priests
Offering burnt
sacrifices on rocks raised altars to God of their gone
God of Isaac, God
of Jacob and God of Abraham-God of their forefathers
What is it now I
am to believe-traditions or religions?
If I lose
traditions I become a slave:
If I lose religion
I become a pagan!
My Missionary’s
religions hated my African traditions
My African
traditions rejected my Missionary’s religions
Where is
light-right about my soul?
Is my soul a
wandering wonderer?
With no hope or
faith to hold: with no home to patch and settle
To where goeth
thee soul after sorrows settles on it?
Does it blink and
blow to purgatory to its polite chastisement
Or does it sink
slow to Sheol to beget its pagan perpetual punishment!
©
KÌÙRA KABIRI.
All rights reserved.
Country of
origin-Kenya.
Mother
language-Gìkùyù.
Nationality-Kenyan.
Residence-Nairobi,
Kenya.
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