thecagedbird-sings

[thecagedbird-sings]

Be Gone, Winter!

Be Gone, WinterOutward boundI saw you limpingI was glad To bid you farewellYour frigidity for monthsForced layers upon layers on meStill, you lingerYou keep turning backAs if you forgot something important Be gone, winterOverstay your welcome no longer

[thecagedbird-sings]

Serendipity in Nairobi

The OneOn a chilly September night,In a rather quiet corner of Nairobi,On the second floor of Kimberly,A girl with a smile so radiant,Walked into a room.Her laughter, light as evening rain,Her voice, smooth as oiled mahogany,Eyes that held a quiet fire,A gait with purpose,She stole my heart.Like a jigsaw puzzle, I felt her with me fit,But an angel she was,Too luminous to hold,Too perfect to be…

[thecagedbird-sings]

On Silent Longing

The Spaces You Left EmptyYou used to like a girl,her shadow crossing yours each dawn—a quiet flame you couldn’t name.Every morning, your tongue turned to stone,mute as the sidewalk underfoot. In your head,you talked for hours—her laughter spilling like sunlight,her voice a river you’d never touch.You promised: Next time, I’ll speak,but next became next,a chain of missed heartbeats. And there she…

[thecagedbird-sings]

Symbolism and the Making of a Postcolonial MasterPiece: A Review of Ken Waliboras Kidagaa Kimemwozea

In Kidagaa Kimemwozea Ken Walibora masterfully employs Swahili proverbs and sayings as well as other literary devices to create a vivid and immersive reading experience. Phrases such as “alikeketeka maini Dora “and “Majisifu aliufanya mdomo wake karakana ya matusi” paint compelling pictures in readers’ minds hence appealing to their senses and emotions. With rich scenery and character…

[thecagedbird-sings]

Encased in Black

Encased in BlackBlack All blackBlack on black Pitapatting shoes, black Wide wavily pants, black Puffy hugging jacket, black Curly flowing hair in a knot, black Big head-cuddling earphones, black Dazzling from within the blackHer delicate whiteness is encased in black

[thecagedbird-sings]

With Hope I Face Winter's Frown

On days like thisWhen masked in a frownAll day long indoors she remainsStepping out but briefly for a peekA rare fleeting stroll in the chilly wintry airLet it to me be grantedThat out in the frigidity engulfedShe finds and against me rubsOr at a window I be seatedFor her improbable winter smile in waitFor with that radiant beaming smileThe sun’s ebullience makes the day whole

[thecagedbird-sings]

Pedals of Progress

The journey through school, is, in some ways like a cyclist's journey.

Pedals Of ProgressHer bicycle wheels spinPropel herTurn her through time and spacePast Madison’s leafy woodsPast the geese-filled Lake MendotaPast restaurants from which waft mouthwatering smellsThrough nature’s serenity and the din of the city’s busy throngs Through wintery mash and autumn foliageAgainst forceful wind currents that threaten to rewind her pedaling and call to mind her Herculean…

[thecagedbird-sings]

The Duo That’s Made of Three

Not of two Though they are but two But of three The couple in the hills knows That of three Their duo team is comprised

The Duo That’s Made of ThreeAn ebullient sun peeks over the peaksTo the west casting long shadows On the slopes of Ngong hillsThe arrival of a newborn day to announceThey walkAnd they talkA cap on the one’s headA head wrap on the other’sWith a fat beer bellyAnd sure hand gesturesWith an authoritative toneAnd a confident gaitThe one is loud and recklessUnafraid and unguardedIn the safe space the…

[thecagedbird-sings]

Perpetual Death

"The anxiety arising from the perpetual activity of the death instinct, though never eliminated, is counteracted and kept at bay by the power of the life instinct." - Melanie Klein

Perpetual DeathAn armOutstretchedReaching An objectUnresponsiveIndifferentThe armHalf outstretchedUncertain The objectTurning a blind eyeNonchalantThe armDiscouragedRetreating The object Collected Impassive The object Poised Reaching The arm Hysterical Embracing Glimmers of hope Extinguished And reignited Only to be doused Dying dreams rekindled Then smothered Again… And again… And again In the…

[thecagedbird-sings]

The Hunter's Foremost Skill

The Hunter and the HuntedThis verse’s inspiration Is a sonneteer’s composition That fulfilled not its intention Thanks to its involution Convolution was a strategy A means to an end An attempt at seduction A trap put forth To draw in and then close in on the birdTo be lured the bird could not howbeit To the bird intricacy was not bait On the contrary it was repulsive A thing not worth a second…

[thecagedbird-sings]

Winter, The Ending that Brings Forth a Beginning

It's dark and cold. But have you ever stopped to think about the beauty and possibility Winter brings?

Howdy winter Why do you hide the sun You rush her out with a frown and darkness you beckon with open arms Eleven in the morn resembles three on the leeward side of noon Into the witching hour seventeen hours you transform Over the Michigan down you pull the dark nimbers The lake touches the sky a stone’s throw away Of their green and yellow and red and purple and orange, the trees you rob Naked…

[thecagedbird-sings]

Up The Hill

[thecagedbird-sings]

The Olive Branch

Counsel to President Ruto (your responsibility is the greatest, sir) and the Kenya Kwanza government during this tumultuous time occasioned by maandamano...

The Olive Branch Lace not an olive branch With venom and poison Lace it not With the spit of words Unkind and haughty Lace it not With foul breath Ferrying untruths and hubris Lace it not with the sound Of ignorance and conceit It is an olive branch Your suspicions Swallow Your trepidations Voice not Your fear Be not seen wearing Your mettle Hang on the neck like a bishop’s crucifix Your…

[thecagedbird-sings]

Stuck

Into the deep where I came treasure hunting... The vastness of the trove bewilders The enormity of the sea confuses The multiplicity of tasks Breathing, and cleaning, and refining, and swimming The oodles disorient

Stuck Into the deep where I came treasure hunting Far from home having wandered Years and years of excavation Seasons upon seasons of determined effort To the trove delivering me In my eyes the fortune I behold With my hands the gems I graze To clean it up To refine it Common sense beckons So with it to swim ashore I am stuck natheless Stuck not in mud Stuck in the head The ability I can boast…

[thecagedbird-sings]

Days of meaning

Days of Meaning

Days of meaning Where did they go The days of lonesome bliss When solitude was a priced jewel Sought after with the yen of a thirsty deer Looked forward to with the eagerness of a hound When focus on goals Impelled self-isolation When the paradise of empty spaces The serenity of loneliness And the company of the self Were akin to a masseuse’s therapy To a body sore and sapped Where are the days…

[thecagedbird-sings]

The City

This is an attempt to put into words the images that came into mind every time I thought of Nairobi as a small boy growing up upcountry. As a grown man, these images have only taken a more forceful twist that often hits too close to home.

A swallowing A disappearance Like of some prey into the insides of the predator Or of a needle into a bale of hay It's the image my mind conjured The persistent one that still materializes Whenever I picture a journey into the city In the yesterdays There was a literality to it And a dismissive wonderment About the workings of my intellect Now it is impossible to disregard The insatiable…

[thecagedbird-sings]

Kawira Mwangaza Must Adapt or Else…

Meru governor seems to harbor dictatorial attitudes to say the least. The vexatious nature of this possibility notwithstanding, it is less likely that her despotism may sink her and more probable that her unwise execution of it will...

Governor Kawira Mwangaza’s ascent to power was unexpected. Shocking even. Hitherto almost unknown even within her county, the political newbie dethroned a political giant of national stature, who many thought would mince her like a crocodile minces its hapless prey, if you catch my drift. Nevertheless, her downfall may be in the offing. The David-vs-Goliath triumph she pulled in the last…