OVER THE SINKING FLOOR.

My landlord built a second floor on top of our rentals down in the slums.

They are self-contained apartments. 

Truth is the view is quite breath taking up there. 

Our neighbors are blessed with a clear view of the city and a quiet refreshing breeze.

You should see the look on their faces as they tiptoe through the constipated atmosphere on our floor with their lips covering their noses.

It’s quite clear they despise us!

It’s fascinating how easy it is for them to forget we share the same pothole road sloping down to the slum our rentals are put up.

Who wouldn’t while blessed with a chance to look down on everyone else?

They fear we might contaminate them,

with diseases from our neglected contaminated floor.

But they forget we still share the same corridor.

The dying corridor!

Ours is the floor that holds theirs together!

But they seem to have forgotten that.

Soon when the floor they despise collapses,

theirs will sink down with the rest of us!

By the lake side….

Do you remember that warm January evening? It was the day your mama gave birth to you,I wanted to buy you a cake,creamy caramel just the way you like it but I couldn’t afford a muffin much less a rose.

So I took you by the lake side,to watch the sun set and the golden mirage reflecting on the surface of the water body.

We gazed at gaggles of Egyptian geese migrating across the lake, perhaps they were heading home to rest after a day of floating on water.

The pide king fishers paused in the sky keenly scanning their prey from way up in the sky,they are magicians those birds.

We took turns at staring at the hypnotizing ripples on the surface of the water body and our minds carried away by the soothing sound of the water body, I think it whispered happy birthday,I love you!

The city with multiple personalities…

It depends on which angle you view it from, sometimes its quiet like the dead of the night at midday!

You will walk past a number of fences and the best you will see is a kiwawa wagging it’s tail or a German shepherd panting with it’s tongue out walking besides it’s master who most probably will be putting on sweat pants!

in this angle,noise is no where close to what entertainment is!

The residents, prefer classic jazz music accompanied by poetry,under the moon-lit sky sipping on sparkling wine!

Native languages are more of folktales here,the people have adopted the posh English accent,it’s what the elites do anyway!

Well basing on where your legs make you wander, you might end up trapped in the daily busle and husle of the city centre,the boda boda guy cursing the taxi driver who seemingly intentionally parked his car amidst the road,trucks carrying merchandise and street vendors enticing pedestrians,the combined voices of different individuals seem to block your brain and then a carriage carrier will ask you to excuse him,if your lucky not to have your purse mugged,it’s the order of the day here, people hustle to earn a living!

There is a possibility of ending up downtown,where the youth smoke cannabis to meditate so they say!

Garbage trenches right in front of the countless rentals,and happy children playing where seems to be a road but still is the front yard!

Sophisticated faces with dreadlocks curiosly staring at you,as they listen to reggae music, tommorow is uncertain!

Depending on what you choose to see,things might just turn out to be spiritual all of a sudden,as the immam calls people for prayers,a pastor will be preparing to feed the believers with the word of God at lunch-hour,a priest preparing for Sunday service too!

As darkness falls and the innocent wannainch retreat to their humble abodes,for some wannabes the night is still young,they gather up in clubsilk sometimes amnesia and the fiesta begins!

Oh how I love this city of mine,able to accommodate men from different walks of life,upright and twisted,as long as you choose what suits you best!

Home,to Kidepo valley

Ekonai akaminat,my pockets are empty but my land is rich,come,let me take you home to the valley of wonders,where buffalos run free in the wilderness of Kidepo valley national Park,where elephants loom free along with bush bucks.

Akaminat you will love it here,the sun rises upon mountain morungole, and later sets upon mountain moroto.

Let me take you below the Napole Nyangeya ranges, where the view of the plains will only be cut short by how far your eyes can reach.

Am no Shakespeare,but I have learnt how to go around with words,I can warm your spirit,and later propose with a sunflower,their seeds make amazing meals where I come from.

Akaminat say yes,I will make love to you on the rocks in karenga district listening to the sweet sounds of nature made by the abysnian rola or the v-nature dove.

I won’t take you to a club but the music played by the k’jongs down in Lorukulu village will be as nice,I promise I will jump as high as I can.

Akaminat we will build our own manyatta,terrace it’s grass thatched roof and put pillars around it.

We can raise a herd of cattle and flocks of sheep,plant pine or eucalyptus trees.

Where I come from, children sing happily while pumping water from boreholes,at the stream women wash together their husbands clothes and build their homes unrelentingly.

Akaminat lakara when you say yes!