THE GOVERNMENT KILLED ME! On my grave-stone must you write ‘Killed by the government’ And my photo should be colored On the Sunday Standard obituaries page Title it ‘Promotion to glory’ Analysts must talk on KTN news at nine Guessing what might have went wrong Ole Lenku will famble making a statement Ending by wishing my troubled soul rest But I demand a big funeral- by the state Because it killed me all along! It started with a promise That maternity would be free So a space was created for me But at birth it was a lie A birth-assistant needed a razor blade Wajir county knows no dispensaries And maybe no government And food was just a hint And the arrows and spears Of inter-clan wars, fighting for pasture Security being a tale Order remained a myth It could not be achieved Yet that I survived! And I survived in school! Grasping knowledge from volunteers Teachers were but a mirage We were waiting for a laptop With jiggers feeding on our feet My stomach still rumbling But they said a laptop Was the first priority Maybe the internet provided food-I thought Then one day It claimed computers needed power Which we did not have I thought of the schools in the big city Electricity warming their swimming pools Hopes flew with the wind Or one time I survived in Lamu! Played collateral damage In the game of terror The government fighting Wars not clear to be our own Giving us statistics Only of rebels killed Our soldiers must be immortal in war And in Mpeketoni it was seen Terror flags were raised Terror anthems were sang out And the leaders pointed political fingers And everyone joined in the gullible song And we soon forgot, attention drifted From the blood From how I had survived! Or how I survived a bare war! Against an armed robber for a government Stealing my taxes To increase a senator’s allowances Until my pockets had only air And my papers remained just that Papers Old men in interviewing panels Taking ‘tea’ from busty secretaries Looked for ten-year’s experience Where was a fresh graduate to get that? I thought of how digital we were And how transformative the government was I thought of the hundreds of thousand of jobs The government promised to create Then BOOM! I had an idea… Guns are not toys But man must live Money is in circulation On the streets of Nairobi But the government hated competition Just when I started to earn a living It declared a –Shoot To Kill! I cried ,how will I live? Fell into desperation Used my few coins for illicit brews I almost got blind I almost died But I survived! Thought why legal drinks so expensive Yet they were saving lives Life was expensive! Going back home in anguish Tired of the stench of the slum And the teargas by county-police Chasing humble hawkers like thieves Trying to survive! And on the road I survived! I survived accidents at black spots From an over speeding vehicle Because a fat policeman had taken a bribe And failed to perform an inspection And a driver was rushing for many trips Well, I later heard his point He needed to make ends meet too The economy was not his brother He was trying to survive! How many days have I survived? I even survived malaria That time nurses decided to strike And pharmacists are in booming business And we chose to chase the president When he brought us nets And we used our nets to fence farms Shield vegetables from chicken and animals What is sleeping soundly in a treated net On an hungry stomach? I survived HIV at the lake in Homabay! Heard promises to employ the youth From rich women with motor-boats And when poor ignorant girls When idle uneducated women Seduced me for my fish Wanting to give me flesh They just wanted to survive I survived! Another country Another time When survival no longer proves The order of the day Unless you are a politician Or your father was There In that place I will live Stop to survive But in this right now The rope hanging on this tree And a soul tired of survival I hang my body for rest The government can save my life But it is not near in sight The government is killing me The government has killed me The government killed me The moment I was born! All glory is gone All pinnacles of hope are down All honor is lost in mere survival Suicide notes!
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 09:53:07 +0000