#IAmKenyan, Deep and overstood, Kenya, Life, Politricks

KENYA’S 2024


JANUARY

New year, new fear
Positivity relegated to the rear
Condemned resolutions

FEBRUARY

A nation’s emotion
She gassed me to explosion
Negligence tracks

MARCH

Water is wet
More so, a liquid threat
Unlike tears in a flood

APRIL

6 feet under
No defence, I wonder
Finally one with the force

MAY

Mining for gold
As long as it glitters, I’m sold
My life’s plan collapses

JUNE

Masai Rex
Protest my negative cheques
Billed for my own demise

JULY

Political scuffle
Order a cabinet reshuffle
We did not believe

AUGUST

Serial killer
Possibly a seat filler
Escaped to another calling

SEPTEMBER

Violence between genders
Home acquired by moneylenders
External peacekeeping

OCTOBER

Ousted conductor
Exits stage left of the destructor
The music plays on

NOVEMBER

Paid ayes
Hand on a Bible, avoiding God’s eyes
They don’t like us

DECEMBER

Herod’s dream
Missing kids on live stream
Cosmetic justice

27th December 2024

#IAmKenyan, Deep and overstood, Kenya, Life, Politricks

12 DAYS OF A KENYAN CHRISTMAS


On the first day of Christmas
My government sent to me
A tax man for the wrong fee

On the second day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the third day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the fourth day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the fifth day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Five olden kings
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the sixth day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Six cops a-lying
Five olden kings
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the seventh day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Seven cons a-skimming
Six cops a-lying
Five olden kings
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the eighth day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Eight blades for killing
Seven cons a-skimming
Six cops a-lying
Five olden kings
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the ninth day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Nine Mercedes financing
Eight blades for killing
Seven cons a-skimming
Six cops a-lying
Five olden kings
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the tenth day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Ten reforms unwilling
Nine Mercedes financing
Eight blades for killing
Seven cons a-skimming
Six cops a-lying
Five olden kings
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the eleventh day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Eleven snipers shooting
Ten reforms unwilling
Nine Mercedes financing
Eight blades for killing
Seven cons a-skimming
Six cops a-lying
Five olden kings
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

On the 12th day of Christmas
My government sent to me
Twelve mothers crying
Eleven snipers shooting
Ten reforms unwilling
Nine Mercedes financing
Eight blades for killing
Seven cons a-skimming
Six cops a-lying
Five olden kings
Four warning words
Three benched trends
Two subtle shoves
And a tax man for the wrong fee

And a tax man for the wrong fee

26th December 2024

Life, Rock

A symphony for all souls.


#IAmKenyan, Culture, Deep and overstood, Hip hop, Kenya, Life, Politricks

UKOO?


Naamka asubuhi napiga dua for vigeti, sala more natumia mama kwa kibeti.
Big fish kwa sahani ndio maana nashusha neti, ligi soh natafuta hizo zangu senti.
Pay per clue ama stage haijalipiwa, donda wa flow change yangu ni kitu pure.
Sticks and stones nikitusiwa, nabreak bones kama gwiji wa rap akiwapa kitu sure.
Colour kwa face, akala mpaka base, nakala ya case, nitashinda usitie shaka.
Maisha naichase, boots zangu nazilace, 7 am nishaset goals natoka kuzisaka.
Naruka mvi nastep on a Gen Z, usishangae water cannons zimejaa kwa nchi iko dry spell.
Wanasting kama Hessy, nabii ana appetite ya promises but hafurahi tukiskia dinner bell.
Tutazidi kufinya kama nyash kinky, 1-2 sio mic test bali ni kupunch more than lines.
Makanga amelewa na whisky, dereva amesema halali but you can see the signs.
Nina akili na nywele, locked kwa target wakirusha my comrades kwa boot.
Nauli ya hapo mbele, watch them split hairs trying to tap your root.
I’ll keep spitting truth through pain like my dentist was a priest.
Armed to the tooth because they freed a beast they thought didn’t exist.
My creations destroy and burn, no wonder I keep grilling them on my cage,
Walidhani I wouldn’t return, they should have braced themselves for my rage.
Usiku kabla nilale napiga goti bila kupaniki, Maulana  alinibariki hakunilaani.
Tajiri ama maskini ana siku ya kufariki, leo jina kubwa kesho yake FULANI.

#IAmKenyan, Deep and overstood, Kenya, Life, Love, War

Open poem to the PORK


Mr President, I’m not a revolutionary, I’m a poet.

I shall try my best to not have my words sound like bars that could be perceived as enemy lines.
I’m afraid that I’ll raise a storm that could brew a kickstart to knowledge at lightning speeds.
Mr President, I’m certain I would not skim any parts of the historical scams or telltale signs.
I would delve deeper till I rooted out what was fertilizing corrupted seeds.
But remember Mr President, I am just a poet.
I titled my poem open because my verses will be holding such a conversation.
My fears though they ring true will be nullified by the dreams of a generation.
Mr President, for clarification purposes, I don’t write poems, they write me.
I feel a nation’s migraine building up and threatening to explode if I don’t document the aura of this age.
Slowly, my anxiety builds up as my restless thoughts clamour for the right to be.
My pen gets smarter than the sword and the blood of the slain inks this damp page.
Mr President, I’m sad and mad, that means my tears keep mixing anger and grief and I’m starting to accept this recipe for depression.
I’m sobbing for a nation Mr President, because I’m hoping my tears at this altar can bargain their way to a red carpet where acceptable justice prevails.
Mr President, open hands welcomed full streets during campaigns, peaceful demonstrations were served closed fists, bullets and batons of oppression.
We the people, we came in peace, came to voice our minds but ended up picking brains and taking young dreamers to early graves.
I’m not a revolutionary, I’m a poet, Mr President.
Just a son of the Kenyan soil, a law abiding resident.


Mr President I’m not a criminal, I’m a poet.

I used to write verses about love before I couldn’t afford one on loans.
I used to write about baddies Mr President not bad deals and bad bills.
I grew up to watch the game played by civil masters, the careful selection of pawns.
The number of moves countered, when those laying down can’t stand up to confirm the kills.
Mr President, a placard is worth a papercut not a trip to the emergency room, a voice is worth a meeting of minds not a bullet to the head.
I’m not a criminal Mr President, just a poet trying to articulate the life of the dead.
As a poet Mr President, I deal in reason in my rhymes, smuggle smarts into select conversation, and forge new styles to the way I steal status quo that’s past its time from closed minds.
I whisper my emotions into my letters, wrap my words with my true feelings and throw my meaning to my audience as the scene rewinds.
I hear the cries of the unnamed, tear this curtain for them so they can have a peaceful sleep.
They died for the shamed, those with futures uncertain, they are soaring through an eventful trip.
I’m just a Millenial poet Mr President, one who is unable to unsee the horror yet not hear the apology for the betrayal in our cities.
I’m just trying to get some shut eye, and as a way to pass away my time through my recent insomnia, I find myself counting scorned deities.
I’m writing this in long pauses Mr President, thinking back on how many years parents keep burying their children in this nation.
Each single time and regime, when the people raise a questioning hand, the corporals end up punishing their offspring.
A digital movement, something that could have been debated without confrontation.
Before the next bell tolls, maybe you could make a point of picking up on the first ring.



Mr President I’m not alive, I’m a dead poet.

I’m not sure how I got here really.
Maybe it was that poem I wrote when red-eyed, or that Ex with a passionate grudge or maybe my DIY noose finally worked and that’s why I am floating.
Any of them could be perceived as deadly by the right audience on the wrong side of history
Or I could have starved to death, I think artistes and Kenyans, especially Kenyans do that.
I don’t know where I am Mr President, it’s a new place for a poet.
It’s dark and peaceful. Everything I probably always wanted.
You know? When you took away my purpose.
When everything I created in destructive conditions was taxed till the government was content.
When I moved back home so you could have several homes.
When my social media post not meant for views got me in trouble for reporting the current news.
When that tick-tock ended up being my clock winding down on me without my consent.
When I marched to the end of the line and they cut mine.
I don’t know where I am Mr President.  I didn’t want to end up here.
I thought you’d listen. I created the most informative poster. You’d probably not have been proud, but I was.
Now I can’t hear my comrades.
I’m calling out to them, they said the water would just itch. Is that why I can’t scratch away this lonely feeling?
I carried that flag and water bottle for the teargas like the poster said right? It must have worked, I’m not coughing.
But… but I am alone Mr President. Mr President? Mr President? Mr President? I guess this is the end of our conversation Mr President. If you can still hear me.
I only need to know: Where am I? What happened?Did I make a change Mr President?
I was not just a poet Mr President.
I was a Kenyan.

#IAmKenyan, Deep and overstood, Kenya, Life, Politricks, War

GENERATION ZII


Broke, jobless, taxed, homeless, no wonder the streets keep calling.
Smoke, fearless, facts, timeless, we’ll march again and keep coming.
In the spirit of Wangarĩ, Mboya, Ouko, Njindo and others, we claim our birth right.
We are not here to be the 4th liberation, we have got the final one in sight.
You thought we got our heads stuck on our screens didn’t you?
You missed us gaining knowledge to kick you out of our view.
We got to watch the previous generations get the same treatment.
Peaceful demonstrations against injustice turned to hostile internment.
Ignoring our demands and rights is definitely a foolish use of freewill.
I shall still be at your gates tomorrow, yesterday was just a fire drill.


Water cannons hazitushtui wakati hakuna maji kwa taps nyumbani.
Mkono wenu mrefu lakini sisi twapungia serikali yenu ule wa buriani.
Nikiupload video, mnataka kodi, nikipata likes mnauliza tuje lini?
Tutatiktok tutatiktok na nini, hatuezi afford tax tutatiktok kwa nini?
Tunacreate jobs from scratch, nyi kazi ni kudestroy our digital hopes.
Mnacreate mobs na promise ya lunch, kazi yetu ni kudestroy hizi ropes.
Mnadhani mboka ndio tutapiga lakini kuwapiga nyinyi ndio tutachoka?
Tuko focused, threats za lock up twaziweka behind bars za kufoka.
Tumekuwa at the bottom na bado mnatulet down, tumekuwa njaa koo yasema tuko na kiu pia.
Tutaexpress our ways kwa hizi barabara, sisi si generation ya sahani, tuko taxin’ juu twataka sinia. 

#GENERATIONZII #REJECTFINANCEBILL2024 #RIPREX

Deep and overstood, Life, Love, The Teenage Years

A FIGURATIVE COUNTDOWN


14 verses, spinning numbered musical tales at the tail end.
14 classes, making pals with pens yet timed digits forgot to hit send.
14th day, double the Sabbath adding my soul to the earthly tide.
14, first time having dreams of the silicon green on the Swiss side.

13, pompously aged puberty arriving with a cut of weighted gospels.
13th Friday, finding winning darts at the bar of unlucky spells.
13 baptisms later, spirits calm down in drunken volumes.
That teen, shedding cocoons from adulterated vacuums.

12th night, peering over the fence trying to fix withdrawal shakes.
12 disciples, fishing for bread at the cost of having to eat cakes.
12 hours, sleeping through sunshine as others have the day.
12 labours, giving birth to a godforsaken part to play.

11 players, still finding hearts in pitch to career injuries.
11th hour, arriving in mere seconds yet stoned into centuries.
11 betrayals, hanging happiness to win at being penny-wise.
11 atoms, explosive emotions prompting salty vocals to rise.

10 years, sweating through the tears in the universal fabric.
10 decks, crumbling as cards fall when winds blow the trick.
10 commands, squeezing a game out of a broken system.
10 neon lights, green-lighting an avenue ending in the red mayhem.

9 stitches, laughing up skins clamouring to save a life in pretense.
9 snitches, sharpen knives to shorten lives by elongating a sentence.
9 muses, creating a multiverse of poetic pains and growth gains.
9 months, destroying a cosmos of all the reigns and strains.

8 breaths, oxygenating painful awareness into existential lungs.
8 pieces, sailing shredded hearts towards the cannon bangs.
8 corners, stoppage time but life keeps throwing hits.
8 bites, building up a meal of passion or blowing us to bits.

7 knocks, breaking down doors after divine window shopping.
7 seas, raising a tsunami just to save the world from drowning.
7th son, finding luck in less familiar good-byes after so long.
7 sins, trumpeting deadly notes creating a triple gun salute song.

6th month, births gemini twins of anxiety and depression.
6 cubes, rolling to live or die without having left an impression.
6th sense, predicting a struggle with society’s extremes.
6 feet, troubled minds finding a resting place for dreams.

5 tastes, yet worldly turns leave earthly tongues bitter.
5 petals, flowers falling through cracks dims the glitter.
5 elements, throwing periodic tantrums for a seat at the table.
5 scales, a musical staircase where croaking is the final label.

4 chambers, revolving living iron while calling the bloody shots.
4th quarter, a full moon leads to the body if you follow the dots.
For starters, run away from home and break the 4th wall.
For status, time your farewell signature by leaping at last call.

3, the trinity meant to keep lithium away from our poles.
3 dimensions, we still cannot find space for our souls.
3 geniuses, starring in an unexpected trip of astronomical holy wars.
3 temptations, triggering denials that lead to deadly scores.

2 halves, marital ambitions for thoughts in opposing hemispheres.
2nd chances, parole system working on life sentence gears.
Two-faced, demons with sweet voices leaving dents as a joke.
2, the duality of meanings since the poet’s words spoke.

1, unit of a unified self becoming one once one unites the previous ones.
1 father, jealous and suffering from the success of devious sons.
1st person, me, myself and I can’t stress the tense in my past.
1st position, strongly leading in a competition to be last.

#IAmKenyan, Deep and overstood, Kenya, Life, Politricks

AUGUST ALL SINNERS


Puffed paths pass through a rich man’s gut.
Starved stars strut in poetic poverty and sass.
Ni ngori kwa head man anayefanya kazi kupata head rest.
But the chief point remains the existence of a cozy nest.
May we borrow in unity but pay individual taxes.
Piecing together redials of liberty from missed texts.
Figurative language becoming reality to fit in boxes.
Ticks for the win as they suck through our losses.


Perfect pal pats the back that soon receives the kicks.
As past proverbs find the man at the mic through teary sums.
Bas bas bas… mwanaume tulia hakuna haja ya kutense.
Rebuilt bridges burn taking down those on the fence.
Liars are firm as they fill tills for they believe the words they say.
The victims perpetually disillusioned when they finally have their day.
A bite of the national dessert where everyone wants to pick a bone.
Few want to work for the home yet everyone wants the throne.


Puff puff pass the responsibility requires a dose of bluntness.
That’s why we intercede but never have the time to confess.
Wasi wasi ukipata utaambiwa uinue macho kwa clouds.
Building speed tracks in the air in search of a higher ground.
The snaking smoke gifts vivid dreams from night terrors.
Cursing the waking hours with the weight of a turn of errors
Entangled in a web of our choices that sometimes makes us sensitive.
Memory evaporating when reminded our voices are truly representative.


In the end we smash the mirror to avoid our reflections; forgetting we are all sinners under the tree of our selections.

#IAmKenyan, Deep and overstood, Kenya, Life, Politricks

THE ANTHEM, AND THEM.


Oh God of all creation, poor or rich, from the wet sands of the Coast to the dry sands of the North.
Bless this our land and nation with rains for our fruits and sun for our growth.
Justice be our shield and defender, even when judges won’t defend us.
May we dwell in unity of all tribes as one, recognizing the origin of the fuss.
Peace and liberty be truly felt than just words on paper.
Plenty be found within our borders, more than enough meat, for our newspaper.

Let one and all arise awakening the mind from its colonial slumber.
With hearts both strong and true finally punch our number.
Service be our earnest endeavour to our neighbours and strangers.
And our homeland of Kenya be protected from all dangers.
Heritage of splendour from our farms to our seas.
Firm may we stand to defend from the mountains, never again on our knees.

Let all with one accord to leave our country better than we find it.
In common bond united from the chosen to the misfit.
Build this our nation together without qualms or complaints.
And the glory of Kenya fly free of any restraints.
The fruit of our labour improve our standard of living.
And if we ever forget, fill every heart with thanksgiving.

Original parts of the Kenya National Anthem included written by: Graham Hyslop, G. W. Senoga-Zake, Thomas Kalume, Peter Kibukosya, Washington Omondi, 1963

Kenya Flag
Dad, Life, Love

5 YEAR SALUTE


I furrow my brow a lot. Mostly as an involuntary reaction to filter out the glare of human “stupidity”, incompetence, ignorance and prejudice. And also, the sun. 😅

I’m light sensitive you see. I have every type of “chromatic” in my glasses. Even my stunnaz/shadez/goggles (80s, 90s kids 🤭) are prescription. You can also be sure for reason number one. I have used it in the mirror too. I am quite self critical.

I didn’t really ever notice it that much till my dad passed away. 5 years today. The photo chosen to be used for his obituary was one where he was doing exactly that. Sure, the sun was in his eyes. However, he could also have been doing it because someone had forced him to wear a tie that day. Probably one of my sisters or all of them. It was hard to get this man to agree to something. I wonder who else I know with the same need to see logic before agreeing to something. Cue mirror again.

The moment I saw that photo on the family group as it was being chosen for the newspaper, it finally hit me why it looked so familiar. I had seen it in my own photos before. Photos as old as when I was just a toddler. You see, my dad didn’t really take many photos of himself. With his old camera and then newer shinier black Kodak camera, he took most of our photos when a studio was not available. Getting him to pose for one was another story altogether. And the few photos I had from before had never captured this moment. Since that day I started a quest to find as many photos from the family albums where he is doing that. They are not many but I found some more.
In fact by watching all my siblings. I realized they all do it. Even the ones who don’t wear spectacles. With time I even see it in his grandkids. Especially in the boy named after him. He usually does it when he is hell-bent on not doing what the mum is saying. Coincidence? Methinks not. Sure enough most humans probably do it. But it is the uniqueness of the lines that form on their faces that makes my heart skip a beat. The lines that remind me of you.

Today I celebrate you. As you celebrated all of us and our achievements. You probably wrote our CVs out to people you met as you spoke proudly of your children. I have met people years later who only knew me all the way to the personality core, just from your words.

It is why today’s words will not be sad as that poem from years back. It’s why I can manage a fair amount of jokes as I write you this tribute. I remember the number of times you had me guffawing at the jokes about politicians, wrestlers and most frowned upon by dear mother, religion. And so, today amid the tears that we can’t dry or deny, I get to smile. I get to know that one emotion can be expressed as two. I also get to see that furrowing our brow is more than just a reaction or a way to judge. It is a way to take a stance. A way to strive forward through hardships. A way to turn up even when we might not feel like it.

A few quick updates.

Your 2 elder sons have since decided to wear caps as much you did because your warnings on baldness fell on deaf ears. 🏃🏿‍♂️🏃🏿‍♂️😂
The other one (mirror moment) won’t shave his hair because he is caught in your spirit of the 60s. He also didn’t heed your warning on early grey hair.
There’s 2 more grandkids. You would have loved to meet them.
Your family has grown so much we take the family photo in panorama.
It sure would have been a lovely excuse for you to avoid more photos. 😁😁❤️❤️

We still miss you in our midst.
We miss your toughness. We miss your kindness.
We miss your glares. We miss your cares.
I miss the furrows in your brow that said: “This is how I got you this far.”

Koma thayû baba.