Upon the arboreal dozed and limb,
Extended coccyx serpentine loose,
Throne of inspection, tenet and dumb
Stillness hunts akin stealthy Mongoose;

Except for the natal locomotive
Soft deep sufficiently immense purr
Emanating from some industry; effective
In the cover of the thick supple fur.

The lord of his unconquered empire,
Thrives on flesh and quenches on milk,
Wintering unperturbed reading the fire
That flickers, gleaming his bed of silk.

Ever landing on appendage quadruple
Acrobatic athlete not soiling once his back
Consummating in strict concealment marble
Couch of perpetual indulgence buried black.

My two decades of existence
Keeps me glued to the classroom furniture
And the male colleagues too
Not leaving behind the city lady
The holidays argue out my freedom
And am let loose into the countryside
To the domicile of origin.

This company that I need so.
Of the human species xx
Looking for all but to naught.
They all be teen mothers
Trampled roses, imprisoned souls
I miss the beauty of the flowers
And the noise of virgin laughter
Cruelly held away from me
By these a bit too early mothers.

Nothing seems to get better,
For the light denied countrysiders
Will a sight appear in the sky?
Or an angel drop from the heavens
To bring a huge handed message
To grab the fifteen years old woman
Back to the classroom
So that am not a grandfather
At thirty years of age
Slacken your pace oh teenage woman!

Scatter and throw,
Seed to sow,
Virtue to grow,
Schoko pro,
I love you so!

Horror horror horror
Sorrow sorrow sorrow
Why did it have to happen?
You birds in the air
What were you doing that you did not sing
Songs to keep our dad from leaving
To hold him a little bit longer
Listening to your sweet moving melodies
And you sun
Oh mighty ruler of the daylight
What were you doing at the tropic of Cancer?
When he fell to the dreadful cancer?
Pass on to Capricorn and do not hover
Above the region of the equator.

You are to blame you stars
That moved your wings so gaily
And caused your eyes to twinkle so merrily
That you got the attention of our beloved father
Caused him to leave us
Mesmerized by your beauty
Hide your fire you stars
And keep the charm of your beauty
To them that are worth its attention

But why our dad?
Who had given all to charity?
Sacrificed what a man can’t; a family
And got a larger one of twelve thousands
Taught us how to live
And lighted the path of glory for us
Our hearts are stone-heavy
At the loss of our beloved dad
We loved you dad and still do
And know that you loved us too
But it had to happen, rest in peace.

And you moon
You know how he loved to smile
Then you stole the chance
And smiled so charmingly wide
When all his sons were asleep
And your charm attracted our father
To come to the broad heavens above
You are to blame too.

But I now give you the assignment
You heavenly dwellers
All who contributed
To the departure of our dad
Sun shine upon him all the days
And make your sister the moon
And her maidens the stars
To attend to him for eternity
Oh mighty ruler of the daylight
Make the birds to entertain him
Till all of us meet him some day
Let your golden rays surround him in majesty
Give him your seven-colored scarf
The rainbow medal
For a life lived to the fullest
And for a race run, completed and won
We shall miss you Geoffrey Griffin
Rest in peace dad.

Is there more that I can do?
Tell me that I may hear
I will readily do that
Sacrifice all to do it
Open up girl to my pleas
And respond that I may know.

Not less than four letters
Have I jotted in a row
All in the name of love
Have you ignored it?
Please don’t
And if you have,
Do not keep it in your heart
Respond that I may know.

Do not keep me any longer
In the painful suspense
Poised between rocks of anxiety
Finding the delay irksome
Itching for something to happen
That you will let me know
What you think of me girl

Is there anything
That I as a man have not promised?
Paradise, Heaven, Stars, full moon
And even the rainbow
Haven’t I girl?
I now promise you my love
But do you promise yours?
Respond please that I may know.

I saw a very old woman out in the cold
There was rain
There was a hyena
Eager to take a piece of her
And she cried out feebly for help
And she was answered
Or rather she now had company
A red-eyed and horned monster

It trampled on the only hope she had:
The feeble voice
Muted like a zombie
And the beast
Coughed out a fire of destruction
Breathed immobility in her
To eager but not quite able
To lick away her life as well.

Helpless, rejected and dejected too
Talk of desolation and poverty
Never again back to her land
Her only inheritance; and heritage too
The woman dies of hunger and disease
The monster wags its tail in joy
Then turns back and leaves her
Unburied, unattended, unmourned
Left her for the hyena to do the rest.

My hair stood on end
And I strongly felt my pride bend
I was afraid you could hear
As my poor heart beat frantically with fear
That I would not please you
That you would overlook me
On that first day I saw you.

Walking in springy steps like a fairy
And wearing a smile that melt my heart
Met in a handshake,
Felt the tender touch
I still couldn’t out make;
“Aren’t you hugging me?” Ouch!
On that first day I saw you.

Hoped that the handshake
Will go above the elbow
Felt my mansion of desires going loose
My submarine of hopes going afloat
My dove of love on the shove
On that first day I saw you my love.

You feel threatened
That university is my institution
And high school yours
Should it happen that;
Angels dropped from the blue heavens
To spark this hearty passion
Then you are my angel
And if queens descended
From the medieval times of Vikings
To rule our hearts with roses
You are the queen of my heart
So if the case be that;
The highest institution of learning
Flowered ones to be treasured
You are my campus girl
And should you think you are not,
I have declared you one.

Down the dangerously steep mountains
She powerfully gurgles down
Clear and powerful
And ultimately into the sprawling Mwea plains
And though out of the steep
Still deliver her intimate brand
Of current flow power.

Sneaking silently around the curves
Bending towards her destiny
She now only whispers
A low murmur of liquid advice
“Please don’t
Defy, misuse or pollute me
For I love you
That’s why I came”

And I love to admire
The immense beauty of her flow
Old yet powerful
Her steps gaily like a fairy
And her loins a mass of turbulence
Her valley heavy with vegetation
A forest out of a scary fairy tale.

But I love to watch her
Slim body
Snaking to the direction of the slope
The dance of white foams in the current
As she churns her way to the coast
Releasing a cold radiation
A caressing chill
The beauty of her source
The snow-capped lofty mountains
I can only give my love to you
To you my darling
That can only be
River Nyamindi.

Who is this that he talks about?
That has ran his mind fantasizing
This that makes him write
Passionate love poems
When he should be concentrating on his lessons
His classes have become second
After this angels that he speaks about
Who is she?
It is you.

Why doesn’t he tell us frankly?
Who she really is?
She who he loves so
That it makes the others envious
Of such deep love
From the bottom of a man’s heart
Blessed be you girl
That is whoever you are;
But it is you.

Smile girl with the angelic face
Give all of us a show
Let us see what the poet says
How true it is
You who I say that my soul craves for
And my heart all extended to
Smile dear smile
And stop to pretend that you do not know
That it is you.

I call you my first lady
But it is you daughter of the moon
You that compete for beauty with Venus
The goddess of it all
Let the sun stop as a witness
Of how much I love you
And I will call out the rainbow
Write on it for the whole world to see
“My love belongs to you”
To you my dear.

Before my tender lungs
Have known an inflow of breath
Or my eyes seen
The beauty of the daylight
Before I have come to know
The Taste of Colostrum
And before my new skin received
The caressing warmth of the sun,
Mama,
You have handed me
An illegal gate pass
Past the birth canal
Shattered my candid destiny
The president of the land
Flushed out your liberation
From the bondage of poverty
And fangs of disease.

Didn’t I mean it?
Or wasn’t I serious just a bit
When I warned of the gruesome pit
Ahead and soon they would hit
Was I performing a funny skit?
The day they refused to admit
That joining would bring no benefit
Just pain and no profit
The best option was to quit
But they wanted to wait
And see as they are used as bait
I can do nothing now but sit
Because I told them.

They are now quiet
Full of reckoning and regret
Wishing they listened I bet
That to stop a fired bullet
You must require a metal jacket;
Before you meet a pickpocket
Your wallet is not stolen yet
My words they needed not interpret
Either that they did not get
Or they simply chose to forget
When I blew a warning trumpet
I know that am not a prophet
Just a pen-and-paper poet
But I told them.

Steady will I fly like a kite
And say that with all my might
Like an eagle in flight
I refuse to accept my plight
Decline to disappear from the sight
Won’t give up my light
I refuse to go down into the night
I refuse to give up without a fight.

Preserve the culture I will
But not overlook the spear
Planted at the entrance to my hut
Nor will I the owner
In bed with my wife
My daughter’s joy will not be taken
By the cut of an ancient knife
Should I sell out?
An incumbent generation
To an out-of-time tradition?
I must not.

Oh my! I am so selfish
Do I have to confess this?
Of course
Oh no
Then I confess.

They came asking
That I may at least come closer
I couldn’t
Am soooo selfish
I thought they would take away
What doesn’t belong to me
Mine and yet not mine.

I confess
That I have a sticky hand
Not that I take
But because I just can’t give…….

Now, wait a minute
Am I supposed to be confessing to you?
While you know who the owner is?
Of what am afraid to give.

Tell me,
Do I have to give my love to anybody?
When it belongs to you?
Mine and yet not mine
Oh!
I confess that I am confessing.

Sent away from the church
To keep her hipsters away
And that almost transparent dress
That terminates
Several inches above the knees

Told that she was,
A stumbling block to the sheep
Soiling the mind of the male congregation
The pastor still in the brackets
Denying the chosen ones
The power of the Holy Spirit
And the Spirit of God was moving
Above the surface of the waters
When Adam and Eve were very naked.

Told she stirred the Spirit of desire
The spaghetti dress
Starting too early and ending too late
Cooking immorality in the society

Hungry men, say lustful
Evil minded
Yet they claim the Spirit reigns
Overcome by their selfish nature
A willing Spirit
But a weak flesh
They blame it on the church lady
And I have never seen
A bull rape-and-murder
And never seen also
A dressed Freshian cow
And they call her church demon.

Under the cover of blankets
My eyes close up
Opening my mind to a misty world
With shadowy outlines welling up
From the bottomless depths
Of foggy long times
Shaping the mosaic of my imagination
Into corresponding dreams
Standing guard
At the outpost to my consciousness
Just before I sleep.

I got blow-out on my hair
Am at the countryside
A mixture of emotions
Envy, admiration, hatred
And jeering too.

I got sunglasses on my face
That gives me
The unwelcome company
Of confused glances
At the countryside.

I got a necklace around my neck
Glittering with life
Never puts it down even at sleep
It is not “manly”
At the countryside.

I can’t sit around the fire
To listen about the ogre
Who swallowed a whole village
The hare and the hyena
Because my forty years old Grandma
Pursues her Master’s degree.

Can you recall any mama?
Your eight-decade granny told
Of the times the animals spoke
So I can tell it to my daughter
And charge her to pass it on
Speak life to the ailing heritage,
Please mama,
Tell me a Story.

A joke is a mock
Merry though black as coke
Stupid yet doesn’t provoke
Through your ribs it’ll poke
Down the spine a firm shock
Last, in the throat it’ll dock

A joke is a lock
A swift heavy rock
On your neck a sweet yoke
Nearly makes you choke
Though not as smoke
A touch of gentle stroke
As sure you can’t revoke
A joke is just a joke.