Expectant silence crawls into the courtroom
The judge starts to read
Tension is building up
The accused deserves it
He’s no person to be in the society, with people
He should be incarcerated, hanged even
The judge passes his judgment
The accused is acquitted, innocent
The incorrigible criminal, murderer, rapist
Has bought justice once again.
The Pantoum
Egoism has found a dwelling place in them
The riff-raff who think they make the world go round
Wolves trapped in sheep’s body
On the prowl in the forest of the people.
The riff-raff who think they make the world go round
Plunder, loot, and rape their own mothers
On the prowl in the forest of the people
Have found cause because have sufficiently pressed.
Plunder, loot, and rape their own mothers
Watch their brothers float in a flotsam of pauperism
Have found cause because have sufficiently pressed
They have no vector of guilt.
Watch their brothers float in a flotsam of penury
Kill them a slow painful death
They have no vector of guilt
What right have they?
Kill them a slow painful death
Burry them under the rubble of mansions they once lived
What right have they?
“They’re means to an end,” they chide sans ado.
The Villanelle
The rising sun is the only star in the sky azure
Pine n’ iris only flowers blooming in my country garden
The sun is the only star in the sky azure.
I am in need; I’ve no friend in deed
The moon behind the cloud’s a joyful companion
Pine n’ iris only flowers blooming in my country garden.
I live for the mere fact of my existence
Make fun of a land so far away, of distance
The rising sun is the only star in the sky azure.
Pine n’ iris, water and sun are my friends
Besides these four companions, I ask no more
The rising sun is the only star in the sky azure.
They say Nairobi is theirs to keep
The city where the Head glory and lies fast asleep
The rising sun is the only star in the sky azure
Pine n’ iris only flowers blooming in my country garden.
Mr. President
Milestones you’ve covered
Kudos Mr. President
Economy’s growing
Roads are craters no more
Promised us heaven in hell
Politics is thy game
I just wonder, Mr. President
Do you ever think of me, IDP, anymore?
Lives lost for thy power
Are they strangely abstract?
Post-election violence fires consumed
Homes where simple folk once lived
Bodies of our parents buried under the ruins
And earth is still wet, boggy
With the blood of my brothers and sisters
If I ever had a mother and father, I was orphaned then
Good people they were; put you to power
We, victims, still suffer in the IDP camps
Perpetrators walk free today.
I have nightmares by night
Tell tales by day
Next election would be no different, I fear
Oh Mr. President, beloved father of the nation
Please listen and understand.
God Bless Kenya
Grandeur and wealth, O God bestow
Our heritage preserve, to the world show
Dearest Almighty, your blessings let them flow.
Bereft we are, deliver us from all evil
Love show, we love you and forever will
Entree into our hearts, descend from above
Stay in our midst; our hope, our love
Seraphic make us, the grace we don’ have.
Kinship of wonderful people, a true nation
Elegant scenery, beauty defies imagination
Notwithstanding errs, peace abound
Yahweh we believe, Your might astound
Attain for us liberty, Thee freedom ring out loud.
Acknowledgement
First, I thank you, my dear reader, for having purchased this book and read it to the end. I appreciate your support. Kindly, be free to leave me a review.
I wrote this book in a span of five years, from 2005 when the candle of poetry was lit in me by my high school English/literature teacher, Mr Paul Muthangya, to 2010. I wrote my first poem (Patience) and when he marked it, he liked it. I did not know then I would be a poet. Many thanks to Mr Paul Muthangya, life’s choicest be with you always.
I would like to thank the organizers of the 2010 Nairobi International Book Fair (NIBF) and the National Book Development Council of Kenya (NBDCK) for their review, critique and judgment and finding this collection worth of the 2010 NIBF Literary Awards.
I thank Sitawa Wafula, poet and mental health ambassador, and founder of My Mind My Funk, whose invitations to her Open Mic events built more confidence in me in poetry. Though I insist I am not a performer, your encouragement is beyond reckoning, Sitawa.
I am grateful to Juliette Westbrook-Finch, Author of Poetry of Passion (for People with a Pulse) for showing me the way to the wonderful world of Indie publishing.
Sincere thanks to all my fans and followers, especially a mysterious but romantic Krupali and Sheila Newton, who have always been a source of encouragement.
Vincent de Paul
About the Author
Vincent de Paul won the 2010 Nairobi International Book Fair Literary Awards for this collection of poems, First Words. He also has written love poetry—Holy Emotions and Holy Crimes. Other works are Flights of Poetic Fancy, Flashes of Vice series which is a collection of flash fiction stories, and TWISTED TIMES: Son of Man, a novel. He has a Diploma in Comprehensive Creative Writing from the Writers Bureau, UK.
Vincent has been published online on different websites and dailies in Kenya. In 2013 he was long-listed for the Nigerian Belgian-based writer, Chika Unigwe Best Short Competition and published in an anthology of New Age African poets, Black Communion, in Nigeria.
Vincent de Paul is a member of the Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE), affiliate of Association of Independent Authors (AIA), and Naija Writers Community.
For more of his works go to:
www.poeticjustnes.com
www.flashesofvices.com
www.elovepoetry.wordpress.com
***
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