You are alive because hope is alive

Where I come From

By Munira Hussein- 
a poem that tells a true story and create a real image of our dystopian society.

Where I come from,

Dust flows like a river

It even rises like ocean waves

The sun shines brighter than silver

  Where I come from

The grass is dry and bitter

The people are dull and thinner

  Where I come from,

Cars drive by once in a year

A jet might never fly through our air,

Darkness brings us together,

We sit by the fire and sing.

  Where I come from,

Tribes are at war

Diversity for us,

Is such a loss

Education is parked in the stores

Love is thrown down ocean floors

Oceans not found within our walls.

  Where I come from,

Children are taught to sow

Seeds of bitterness so sour

And reap sweet fruits

Of hatred and vengeance.

   Where I come from,

Neighbours don’t borrow

They walk in, pinch your salt

They sit down, eat from your bowl

They don’t knock, neither do they shut

 Where I come from,

Goats bleat in the morning,

They are our chirping birds that sing of glory

Cows moo away the evening

They are the trumpets welcoming our rest.

 Where I come from,

the grass is green when it rains

the farms are lined

with green soldiers that sway

  where I come from,

parties are unheard of.

Though the youth smoke and chew,

Hospitals lack doctors and nurses

Schools lack tutors

Businesses lack a market

Yet the youth walk around rugged

 Where I come from,

Civilization is unplugged

Conservation is preserved

Forward movement is declined

So we dwell in darkness

when the world chose light

we opted for a cave,

the few elites ran away,

brain drain,

I hear them say

Where I come from

Where I come from

When We First Met

By Elizabeth Opiyo

The first time I met Seth,
I was confused and infused
I couldn’t wait to tell him that he was cute,
I wasn’t sure if Electric was the right word for his eyes that had already been locked into mine.
I lacked the exact slang word to use; between hottie or a hunky.
And I was thinking of a hot selfie with him at the same time,
But when I got the chance to tell him,
I only said “wow!”
And he asked “What?” And I replied that I’ve seen my dream car.

I thought that fate was responsible for all this and I wanted us to go for a first date,
It felt like the ether together with the angels had paid me a surprise visit,
And they gave me a brand-new smile’.
I saw him in everything that came my way.
The reason I talked, smiled and sleep walked.
The reason I cried when I was supposed to be sleeping.
I wanted him by my side,
To soothe the feelings that I could not hide.

I wished to make him the one friend I would never offend,
His flaws I wanted to hide under my toes,
Because I only trusted my shoes at keeping secrets,
I wanted him to put a ring on my finger,
And between the same fingers,
his strength and his hope, I wanted to give a home,

Yes, I dreamt and wished for this,
Until I forgot and abandoned me,
The little innocent girl I used to be,
I never knew that I had grown up into a woman I wasn’t familiar with,
A woman who had become her own enemy,
A woman who had left her place in the world,
Locked up her thoughts in prison,
And found a dreadful space in the cruel heart of a beast.

With a little introspection and self-realization,
I was strong enough to walk back… back, back, back,
To that little pretty innocent girl I had left in the world of reality,
Just to hug her tight and instead of telling her sorry,
To let her know that the lesson was worth the hurt,
Just to remind her to forget the pain and start again,
A life full of self-love and hope,
Because hope never died,

Hope was only waiting for me to decide.
For I was only one step away.

What If They Cared A Little?

Written by Elizabeth Opiyo
A poem on Poor healthcare

A beautiful Saturday morning

Seems like the moon has true love for the sun

That he has sacrificed his life to let her shine

Under the blazing hot flares of the sun I bask

Wondering why we could never afford medication for mum and dad

This confounding question really makes me emotional

Stopping me from overlooking the beauty of the sun

And I run into our small creaky hut;

Daddy is down, silent and long gone

I run to the shade confused

Mummy is out, silent, a life she doesn’t own,

I stare with rage, my confused desolation;

My lost concern, my new life in isolation;

I am between the distances, tied to space;

So now I remember, their sickness had earned a pace;

That mad doctor, that cruel nurse;

Or maybe it’s the hospital, maybe not their fault?

But what if they cared a little?

What if they showed a little compassion?

What if they saved the time?

Time wasted on the queue, time to diagnose;

What if that day, they could treat before pay?

And paid more attention, just a little for the theater;

But they were adamant when it all started,

Cut them profusely and never startled,

I needed it, but I needed them too;

The transplants, the imprints of their love;

But they faced the monster, and risked it all for me,

So today I am gone, lonely in decision,

And I’m still scared of those cruel monsters

Who call themselves nurses but instead of nursing,

They are cursing and shouting at their patients;

Killing even the little hope they have left.

I know that there are some with wondrously beautiful hearts,

But such are rare to find.

Sometimes I feel like shutting my memories forever

So that I may never remember

These facts, the fact that I live in a country,

Where I cannot afford healthcare

Where I cannot afford the therapies for my cancer,

The pills and the medicine without well wishers

The fact that these health givers,

 Will still treat me as if I’m a drain,

No matter my pain;

No matter my dying condition,

And even that innocent child,

 Will never know their kindness

Even at the last minute of their life.

I wish you could feel this pain like I do,

Then you could recollect your compassion,

That caring heart that you spare for your loved ones

And assure me that everything will be fine,

Instead of staring at your watch,

Counting on the hours I have left on this bed,

The hours I have left in this world.

I wish I could forget.

It hurts a lot that we live in a country where fear is the only strength that we have left. The sounds of bullets, bomb blasts and the cries from horrific deaths are the songs that we can't stop our ears from hearing. Terror has painted horrific images in our hearts that we cant stop our eyes from seeing, dreams that we cant help to wake up from. Death after death, pain after pain, our eyes have shed painful tears that Only God can measure. 


I wish I could forget is a poem I created believing that One day, Kenya will be safe. 

I may forget everything,

but I cannot forget that stunning beauty that attracted all the nations to you. 
I cannot forget that innocent face,
and that dazzling smile that welcomed everyone home.
The charming queen you used to be, 
and that love that made us feel at home.

But what happened my motherland?
A country that grew up so beautiful, so peaceful, so colorful, so cheerful, 
so wealthy, so healthy,
and like mother-hen, you fed and protected all your family.
You were a home to the tourists, a hope to the refugees and a role model to many.

I believed in you Kenya,

and you raised my hopes so high above the planet's horizons,
only to find out my dreams shattered and scattered, by the winds of terror.
A nation that once taught me the meaning of brotherhood, has turned completely so foreign, so strange.
Home has never felt like home since you were torn apart.

What happened my motherland?

Why are you so gloomy?
Why are you so bloody?
Why have you turned to grey?

Look, Look, Look at the way we live in fear today
Who robbed your peace away?
Your confidence, your happiness your love, your strength, your beauty.
Why would you let them steal your peace and tear you into pieces?
Pieces that are no longer willing to unite again?

Where is the freedom that our heroes fought for?
Where is it, if we don’t feel safe in our own country, in our homes, in our schools, 
on our roads, not even in the church?

The movies we used to watch, have turned into reality. 
Hard to accept. Hard to forget.
And every day we watch a series of losses.
Losses of shortened innocent lives set to the graves.

How will we wake up from the nightmares of the post-election violence?

The violence that took our parents away?
Our siblings, our relatives, our neighbors, our friends.
That violence that left many crippled, disabled and depressed.
The violence that burnt many to ashes, to nothing.
That man-made violence that left orphans and widows, 
in the IDP Camps, in the streets anguished and alone.

How will we wake up from the horrific dreams of 

GARRISA GENOCIDE?  
MANDERA GENOCIDE?
WESTGATE ATTACK?  
KAPEDO ATTACKS? 
MPEKETONI ATTACKS?

MUNGIKI KILLINGS? 

ASSASINATIONS?   
ROAD ACCIDENTS?
BOMB BLASTS? 
ROBBERIES? 
RAPE? 

How will we wake up from them if you cannot protect us Kenya?
If the leaders we expect to protect us are the betrayers? 
So loathsome, so corrupt.
If we live in a country where the eyes of a five year–old, 
have already been taught how a tear gas tastes like, 
and that child knows clearly the difference between that teargas,
and the smoke that blazed their home down into ashes during an attack.
If we live in a country where a two year old knows clearly the difference between the sound of a bullet and that of a bomb blast.

The untold thoughts that live in our hearts, 

those thoughts that make us feel like there is a funeral within us. 
The unanswered questions, the pain, the fear. 
Can never disappear without peace, without security.

But I still believe in you My motherland, 
I still believe in you My government.
I still have a dream that you can make a history of Peace, Unity, 
a true story of Security.

I still believe that, ‘A people United shall never be defeated.'
And this time around, it’s no longer a song; it’s no longer a quote nor a slogan, 
but an action.

It’s never too late and you are never too weak KENYA, to do away with the first two letters of the word inSECURITY.

Written By Elizabeth Opiyo