Courage and Humility

Humility isn’t weakness, Courage isn’t isn’t defiance. Just blend humility with courage and watch yourself rise to realms unfathomed by common men~George Agak

The faceless ones

The faceless ones are bigmouthed
They talk too much
They believe it compensates for their faceless statue
The faceless ones visit when I’m out
Bringing all sorts of stories
Like a net cast in the sea
They net truths and lies alike

They are devious and cunning
They have razor-sharp memory
They know all the girls I have dated
Some that I have forgot
Some that only came once
Some that I chewed ones
And the more that I’m yet to chew

My wife is on top of news
She knows who I am
She knows the faceless ones are right
And I am as guilty as charged

The faceless ones have told her
That Nyambura and Kanini fought
Each swearing that they knew me full length
They told her that Anita’s bra got torn
When they fought with Adhis at the balcony
They told her how the police hand-cuffed me
And bundled me in Mariamu
Simply for keeping a school girl
Who was too deep for her age mates

The faceless ones didn’t stop there
They told her that I once stayed
Indoors for weeks
Nursing an oozing genitalia
After eloping with the village girl
That I sent packing after a week
They still believe she gave me Jakom

The faceless ones told my wife
That I’m worse than walking dead
They said that women are my office
Because I am adept at working in them
That is the only occupation
That I thrive in

So my wife heard them
Faceless ones gave her a voice
She asked me if we should be tested
I said she hasn’t give me reasons to doubt her status
She looked at the roof, fidgeted on her seat
And almost in a whisper she said
“I wish I could tell you the same”

And I left her there still mumbling
If only she knew what I’m afraid of!
No one will prick my fingers again!

My Father’s Barren Land

My father’s barren land still has a breath of life
A life that’s meanly kept for itself
Nothing ever grows here
Just rocks and bits of glaring pebbles

This barren land has nothing to offer
Just rocks with slippery surfaces
A haven for reptiles
Where lizards and snakes
Play their witty games

On this land cassava once blossomed
Only to get dehydrated before harvest
Mother ditched this barren land
Left it for the wild to roam in undeterred

This barren land is cursed
By the fathers of our fathers
Those it denied meals to feed
And shadows to rest

Dear fallen fathers
This land is good for something
Please vacate your current graves
And come inhabit this land
Let its belly swallow you
Let its rocky wall shield you
But again dear fathers
Will its shallow belly accommodate you?

Atieno Onge’yo Tedo

Atieno ongeyo tedo
Kwone chiek magol odeyo
Jaber kotedo dek
To welo medo didek
Ringe yom, ichwako giyien mobar
Jomakalo eyo kowinjo suya to dwa mana ni obar
Omende ka ibilo to iweyo dhi Kosewe
Ayaye nyathini ong’e tedo diel nyaka lewe

Jodongo kochamo kwon Atieno
To muomo mudho mandiwa gotieno
Gikelo mbaka e dhoda
Kaigalo ni ariambo to penj Rubot wuod Ododa
Obiro koni kaka jaduong’ Othwele mabakane ok rum
Sechego to oseneno ka iro dum

Atieno ong’eyo pidho welo
Kawendo odonjo nyaka oted gweno
gwen opidho mopong’o osera
To donge nyathini jahera?

ologo welo gi pi ma mamormor
miyo welo chiemo gimor
gik medo ndhadhu bende en go kanyo
Dania, hoho, saumu gi karot oromo kado
Apilo makech bende omiyi iketo kendi kaka idwaro

Atieno nyar Ahero to ahero
Jaberni omiyo aweyo sero
Nikech ong’eyo rito ode
Dak imiene giweche chode
Jaberni osekwalo chunya chuth
opogore ginyiri matimre kathuth
ma oheri ka ingi mwandu
bang’e to giringi ka chogo ma onge ndhadhu

Jaber orito wuod nyar kumabor
Wuoyi tinde iye opong’o bor
Ka adonjo jaber miya nyuka
Ok nyuka anyuka okalo ka
nyuka mobagi to oole ei agwata
Sukari okelo e mesa aketo kenda

Bang’ nyuka to aluokra gi pi maliet
Bang’ luok to achamo kuon maliet
Sechego jaber otwe suka lilo, denda bet maliet
Bang’ kuon anindo kuom del mayom to liet
ouma gi onget maliet
kiny ka achiewo to chae maliet
Adhi tich gi chuny mokwe
Omiyo nyathi Ahero to ahero
Omiyo afwenyo ni jadhako ruoth.

Prisoner

For those asking me to stop ‘lazing’ around and look for a job

For those asking me to take a full time job

Its time you knew that I am too big a prisoner of myself

To fit in paycheck cells

For those asking me to join the rat race

Its time you knew my strides are too long for rats

Necklace as a Memento

The necklace you see in this photograph is one of my possessions I have got so attached to. Steve, a fan of my poems and a brother gave it to me after I had lived with him for a year. I moved in on my own, every time I have it on, I feel his presence around me, his charm, his knack for perfection is the adrenaline that flies me whenever I rehearse for a performance.

whenever I listen to Dolly Parton’s ‘Coat of many colors’ I think of my necklace of three colors and a pyramid of curio shell.

QUOTES

Words are Arrows

Having a tongue that twines on curves and edges of words with ease but no intention to drive a positive change is like scratching your itching back with the sharpest tip of a poisoned arrow, it all comes back to you. #Karma_knows_am_right

absence of silence

I am the one whose presence is noted by perpetual absence of silence. should they call me siren?

Nyahero lives on

She crawled to my feet, and stretched out her arms to hold onto my knees for support. I moved back and she fell on the ground her palms stamping on the ground, dust and pebbles embedding on her moist palms. She didn’t cry, just kept looking as streaks of saliva flowed from her mouth, mbruu, mprrrr, she purred as her eyes sought mine. I looked into her eyes; those beautiful eyes are the only features she got from her mother. She stretched her arms again and this time I let her hold my knees, she kept looking into my eyes so I lifted her up and threw her in the air. She giggled. When she got back in my arms she stroked my ears and I knew the spirits of her mother were in her. Nyahero how I loved you!, that car should have rammed in me.