Alexander K Opicho
(Eldoret, Kenya;aopicho@yahoo.com)

Once upon a time in the city of Omurate
In the southern part of Ethiopia
Omurate that is on Ethiopian boundary with Kenya
There were two prosperous animal families
Living side by side as good neighbours
in glory and pomp of riches
Each family was ostensibly rich
And rambunctious in social styles
They were the families of African rat family
And the Jewish cat family; the city belonged to them
They all enjoyed stocks of desert scorpions from Todanyang
From the savanna desert of Northern Kenya,
The two families also enjoyed to feed on desert locusts
On which they regularly fed without food squabbles
                               Locust themselves they flew from Lowarang to Omurate
From Lowarang a desert region in Kenya, to their city of Omurate
Sometimes the Jewish cat family enjoyed an extra dish
In form of puff adder flesh, especially the steak of the puff adder muscle
Puff adder were cheaply available in plenty at the lakeshore,
Lakeshores of Lake Turkana
At point which river Ormo enters into Lake Turkana
So the cat was happy and relaxed
Even it rarely mewed,  
Neighbours never often heard its mewing sound
The rat also enjoyed plenty of milk with no strain
Easily gotten from the rustled cattles
Cattle rustled by the Merilee; a warrior tribe in Omurate.

That day the cat had gulped milk since morning
Even its stomach was bulging
Like that of Kenyan state officer
The rat had milk all over the house
In the kitchen, milk allover
In the sitting room, milk in abundance
In the wash, room milk all through
On the bed, milk and stuffs of milk
The rat was bored with nothing to be enticed
Sometimes plenty of milk can become a bother
The rat mused to itself in foolish African empathy
That may be the cat is starving in pangs of hunger
With nothing to drink, or may be it has no milk
When the milk is rotting here in my house
It is un-African for food to rot in your house
When the neighbour’s belly is not full,
On these thoughts the rat washed its legs, and hands
Finished up with its face,
Put on its white short trouser and a green top
It stuffed its tail inside its white short trouser,
The rat poured milk into two pots,
each *** was full to the brim
It carried one in its left hand
And balanced another on its head
In its right hand was an African walking stick
For the elders known as Pakora
The rat took off to the home of the cat
In full feat of animal love and philanthropy
Whistling its favourite poem;
An Ode to a good neighbour,
Walking carefully lest it spills brimful milk,
It entered into the house of the cat without haste
Neither knocking nor waiting to be told come in
In that spectacular charisma of a good neighbour,
When the cat saw the rat it giggled two short giggles
And almost got choked by indecision
For it had been long since this happened,
Since the cat had dine on milk leave alone rat meat
The rat said to the Jewish cat that my brother
Have milk I have brought for you
Have it and sip here it is; the real milk,
In devilish calmness the cat told the rat;
Put it for me on the table, thank you,
But my friend Mr. rat don’t go away; there is more
More for you to help me in addition to milk,
Continue my brother Mr. Cat, how can I help you?
Don’t call me your brother; bursted the cat,
For it is long since I ate the rat meat
And you know rat meat is our stable food
In a frenetic feat of powerlessness the rat was confused
In attempt to save itself
it pleaded that my dear elder, I was
Only having plenty of milk in my house
And to us African rats, it is a taboo
To have a lot of food in your house
When the neighbour’s belly is not full
So I only brought you the present of Milk
Please have it and drink,
Without taciturnity the Cat retorted in persistence;
I know and I am thankful for your good manners
But remember with us Jewish cats it is heinous sin
Forget of a taboo, it is blasphemy against the living
God for one of us to leave the rat free from our house
For you rats are the only stable and kosher food God blessed for us
The Jewish rat family all over the world
So shut up your mandibles, I am to eat you first
Then I will take milk later as a relish.

With its herculean paw the cat crushed the rat
With mighty of the leopard culture
Throwing away the white trouser
And green top from the torso of the rat
The cat ate the rat with voracity of the devil
After which it punctuated its mid day appetite
With slow and relaxed sipping of milk
Slowly and slowly as it felt its internal greatness
And hence the African proverbial cry that;
Behold foolish angst kills the African rat!

1
Water lilies remembered her
as one of them, lotus buds nodded, jealousy set  thick in their eyes
her fingers were white lily buds
she balanced on the big, smooth, round
pebble stones, like a danseuse in an
under water ballet,you are buoyant here than anywhere,
as if you live a life after death
your bodies pale and water caressed, create an illusion of 'unliving'
2.
she tickled my skin-
goosebumps  appeared allover
as small bubbles going up..up till they burst above water
I can't forget her first  kiss , underwater
my lungs were filled with her feminine fragrance like  smoke of cannabis
an experience that sizzled the water, never to forget
(even if she would never come back from the unfathomable  love, water gives)
                                         3
                    I was naked, she too, like a lily in bloom that was raveling in love
                    as if it was the last season we had
                    she was magic in body and soul
                    I peeped in to the limitless with her entangling me and at the end,
                   I saw  halo around her pointed  *******,
                   that have become lotus buds.
                   I couldn't take my eyes off them
after the magical transformation.
                   The lake was totally out of the world
                    the mossy patch between her legs
                   had a fluorescent glow intermittent,
                   she was transforming every minute in to  a form of water life, I understood.
                   like a fish, coral, moss or water plant
                   I , for my dismay remained as before; nothing was to be done about it,
                   like many of the things brought change in a person's life.
                                             4.
                                                      Sun, in the voice of light
                                                      calle­d us from above,
                                                      his pranks tickled her and me
                                                       like ghosts of dead women,
                                                        fo­und their watery grave here,
                                                       we played with tortoises and frogs
                                                       made for us crowns with algae and water flowers.
                                                        ­                   5
                                                       A silvery  snake, thin, with some intent
                                                       coiled around her narrow waist.
                                                       eyes in its sharp pointed head,
                                                      inten­tly looked in to mine.
                                                      she was  now a dolphin without fins
                                                       then,  I received waves of clear foreboding
                                                      ­ time to return to the shores, I tried to tell
                                                      but massive sheets of water ate my muffled words!
                                                      Swim­ming up a water column, she smiled that detached smile
                                                      alrea­dy, she was a mermaid , I could see
                                                      I stammered"You..promised..
                                       ­                                      to come back..
                                                          ­                   we have promises to keep,
                                                           ­                  that we exchanged..."
                                                   ­   Under water time runs in a way we can't understand
                                                      ­one becomes a flow, one with altered time..
                                                       she was just a glow in the depth when I saw her last.
                                                          O­