Bakuseka maja

Bakuseka  maja 

Kiboneh, woooh, ekyo kisobola ensi ekyo? 
Kinairah nabiki? Kubugayavu obukidwireh? 
Kibumba agaba emikisa ayeh wooh ekyo yakibuka! 


Mama nsaba  onsoniweh, olugendo lwensazewo, 
Onendeza birungi ayeh oidwireh kwelalikra, 
Omusango gwabakireh batwendeza birungi, 
Ayeh nga Mama nairah wa nga niweh gwensigaiza, 
Banseka maja tikabona ni jenja 

Baba nkukutira nyenda owulileh ensonga, 
Ensi eno eyakibumba eja yakyuka kyuka, 
Emyaka jaimweh jijo jilumwikeh embiro, 
Jyobireh nga olipambana  zena mbaireh ndoto, 
Tyenze kulekera ayeh wakiri mpa akadakikah, 
Nku lileh lileh mu nkunumizeh ebyakivubuka 
Ndidi emyaka tijenkanakana ayeh kangema engomo, 
Nsiba wo nga kinaana woba tokineh kukeesa, 
Olugero olwo nalwnokwikiri gwoli wererah, 
nkoye nga niinda baba, natndiseh olugendo, 
Kabansekeh maja ayeh ndi mwana wa kibumba.

Aboluganda no mukwano ndidi mbatamiza, 
Mbasabiriza mubwavu; ayeh nga siima, 
Kangaiteh gaiteh wo mpola kibumba natuwa, 
Abawaireh omugaso ewange timundekelerah, 
Nefuireh wa lutalo ayeh timwerabira eisuubi,
kemubairehwo nga mum' mbeda mbendeza birungi, 
Kanongereh mu amaani, tulirah kundala, 
Jebutaluka eyo emberi tomana emberah wekyuka, 
Buti luno olwange timunseka maja

Ajar, then the door went wide open, 
Rays of my future burned my eyes 
I'm partially blind is it by design?
I hesitated but knew I had no time.

I walked right through, 
It felt like heaven as I, 
Hesitated forward to see if I, 
Could selfish find what's mine.

Patriarch entertained my nose, 
I was all alone but it felt like home,
Further ahead I noticed a cliff
The mystery baffled me; ayeh, 

I- moved on, 

A gust of wind closed the door, 
No more room to go back home, 
Puzzled as a toddler lost in a mall, 
Is it my calling or the devil calling? 

Famished yearning success;
Barely any food in sight, 
Weeping feeling weak;
no one to hear my plight,

My mind started to ponder,
Racing aimlessly 'cause of fear
No cross road, no dead end;
Only one option to conquer, 


I reached the edge and slipped, 
crumbles rolled and I leaped;
I'm still free falling I'm bleak,
I don't know if I will make it! 


Kabansekeh maja ayeh ndi mwana wa kibumba.
Kabansekeh maja ayeh ndi mwana wa kibumba.
Kabansekeh maja ayeh ndi mwana wa kibumba.
Kabansekeh maja ayeh ndi mwana wa kibumba.(fade out)

Through the Fish bowl

Bharat series 

The kids from across scream "kaifah haluka,"
to the Muslim foreigner in a bid to know an outsider,

The ladies doing khusur phusur
 sit like gurus on their stairways
in the know of all community woes,

The dust due to metropolification 
pollutes the air as nicotine smoke
lays down its wreath.

The spicy tinge of masala in almost everything
stings the tongue yet cures a pang 

The busses during rush hour are
packed like slices of bread in poly,
it's no wonder it's a perfect place for "baba gulshan ji" posters.

The metro at its peak makes the city look like
Tetris blocks; ayeh, you'd miss the Pakistani salt blocks
and mukhauta's hang on buildings to keep away bad omens.

The lust for money sometimes-
turns the society into a den of petty thieves,
so some lose their dignity in exchange for a swindled rupee,

The malls are state of the art,
despite meeting insatiable wants and desires,
their beauty is the tightly knit family units
enjoying a feast in the food court.

The monsoon winds bring a wave of fresh air after a dry spell
but the floods are a menace,
it's hard to know if you're trekking in rain or sewage.

The people's hooting and hollering
for every other little thing during corporate rush hour
depicts an ardent lack of patience.

The culture is still deeply rooted but occasionally,
you find ladies in hot pants and men struck with hands for eyes.

The feeder roads have a cartwheel assortment
of all you can eat seasonal fruits and mosambi to cool the tummy.

The bar owner breaks a coconut at his entrance,
and burns some incense in the morn
to welcome drunks and loners to their very own suicide show. 

The way they castesize  one another is peculiar;
ayeh some of them don't care, t
hey are sweet as mangoes from Gujarat to one another,

The transvestite community comes of as self righteous,
they won't blend in to earn their way and thrive-
so denied by society they beg to survive.

To be continued... 

Eessubi Nina,

Eessubi Nina, 

Nalengela omukyala mukiduula nga chaali amugamba ngenda kunywegera nkusikemu omusayi, 

Omkyala yamugamba, "ababuvubuka bantabide ekimala naye gwe ssebo osuse kidiba waalayi."

Twali tulya nkuuka, tunyumirwa omuziki omusaja netumulengera nga atukiiriza embeera... 

Omukyala yamukwata mukiwato, nanyiga ebeere nga akamula omukyungwa,

Byatusuka ko naye nga tetulina wa kukyuka ekitufu kyo kirinti nataandika nobegoomba. 

Naye esuubi nina, newankubade owaye siyina gwe nyiga, essuubi lyo niina! 

Lulituuka nga nange nkayeh naye nga siri mukiduula,

Eera niinze nga nange ewato nkwata paka enkeera,

Nga nange bankubira amasiimu esiuma mbula disuula,

Nga ntambula mu bireh ne mukyala wange tweyagala, 

Nga nywegerah tere atunyumiza nanti twasiba empeta,

Newankubade ekisibo ki tulumbyeh tuja linda nga tebukya tintiima.

Wabula nesuunze nga mwattu bangulila ebirabo,

Ebya bagalana mubimanyi biba bijude amasape,

Nga kwendi wali kwa akiiba one time sagala atabijuwa,

Nga mama wabana afuumbye akamere  akawowo kakukusa, 

Nga ntuyanye mpede emirimu naye nga nina omunyumiza, 

Mutabireh, mutijise, muwaneh anti teri amusiinga!

Ko yeh nti, " honey nawe, lekelawo okunkubaganya!"

Nve muba mulondolo nyigireh naye mukikunta!

Ko nze, "leero luno kumpulieh nga wasuuka okunkokonya!"

Hoo! Banange essubi niina, lyo lyansuka ko...

Nga sikyali musabaze, nga Ssebo nafuuka duriver, 

Nga yeh conductor buli wenyongeza omuliiro aba takyayitaba! 

Aba wereeza amataba leero sitontomera bajunior, 

Nga nesunze olubozi lwe kiiro nga tetuuna nyiiga, 

Nga tetuunaba kweyokya nabigambo kuda mukwekuba migongo!

Wabula nesunze ninga omwavu aliinze enkoko ya Christmas, 

Neera engoye nazitegeka, nazigolola nga bankyayeh!

Kyoka byona nali ninna,
ekitufu kirinti omukwano simwangu gwakutegera! 

Kati musaja watu Nada Ku kateebe nasigaza kwegomba,

Eesubi sikiwa nti nina...

Nalulungi wa balungi

Nalulungi wa balungi 

Nkulaba engeri jewesembeza,

Mpola mpola olinga ekovu kulusubi,

Libanga elyewunza nga terinatuuka, 

Naye olisanga lyewomya lituse mukifo, 

Lyona lisazeko terimanyi nantuuyo! 

Mwana gwe enkulaba engeri jyo yingira wo, 

Wena- wena wesiseh olinga kimbo! 

Akawowo kansuseeko kumbe ndi mukisibo, 

Sagala kulya naye onkema olinga enkoko, 

Kyoka wenkulya omukwano gujya kwekuba lock nge empingo! 

Lwaki onzijako eza yesu, lwaki ontinkula?

lwaki wetijisa mwatu, lwaki wemola? 

Lwaki tompamu waazi, yeh lwaki tontya? 

lwaki osazewo kunsota, lwaki tolinya musota?

Lwaki olonze enze njakwokya, lwaki toonta?

Nkulaba engeri jewesembeza,

Mpola mpola olinga ekovu kulusubi,

Libanga elyewunza nga terinatuuka, 

Naye olisanga lyewomya lituse mukifo, 

Lyona lisazeko terimanyi nantuuyo

Mwana gwe sagade kwagala, 

Silwakuba neyagala naye ekitufu ndi fala, 

Nze omu kubasaja aba papa okumala, 

Nanti obuwomi buwunza bubanga obuku kubyemu eetala,

Ateh omutwe jeguli, guli mukulinya daalah

Lwaki onkuba engine nga sagala tandiika? 

Lwaki opapuka okulya ng'emere sinajula

Lwaki oduka embiiro nga sinafuwa firimbi? 

Lwaki weyisah ngo mwana ku kiiro mo? wena ojude akasigiri

Lwaki oluleeta kunsanfu nkwewunya oba nkukoleh leh ki?

Nkulaba engeri jewesembeza,

Mpola mpola olinga ekovu kulusubi,

Libanga elyewunza nga terinatuuka, 

Naye olisanga lyewomya lituse mukifo, 

Lyona lisazeko terimanyi nantuuyo

Ntandise okutya kuba wekuba kwagala,

Mukwano watu osuse... 

mubuguminkiriza teri akusiinga olinga ejinja elitude! 

Mukufaayo abalala bamanyi kwefaako baanno nebaja luvanyuma, 

Naye gwe wofa kubalala werabira nti olina okwefako.

Nalulungi wa balungi simanyi kuwa mukwano, 

Okwesiga nesiga nyo nabitya nafuka mutitizi Kati mbitekamu empisi, 

Omukwano gwo nagugwa byanema okutegera bilinga emmati

Nagezako okwegata nomulala twesanga tweyawude

Nalulungi, kitondeka? 

Engeri jenkwata mu ebintu biba biwede sinataandiika! 

Nalulungi, kitondeka? 

The weeping streets...

Bharat series 

The weeping streets...

Nobody's listening but the streets weep,

If they could speak they'd shriek...

The "aunties" clean but still it reeks,

The filth remains it must be deep within

I have watched them sweep, 

I guess it's something they should teach, 

For after gathering the heap of negligence,

They shove it down into the drainage.

The systems are clogged, 

It doesn't take the floods to know.

But all they do is fold their clothes and be on the go, 

And those in cars curse as their engines catch a cold.

At night 'fore I sleep, I creep, 

cross the road and dump my garbage onto curb, 

Sometimes I feel better off than most, 

for my mate waits until the city sleeps, 

and over his balcony rail he throws his waste, 

A gesture filled with much jester, 

Yet a common thing among the masses...

In the morn at the strike of dawn, 

The three wheel truck comes along sounding horn.

The garbage walla hops out in his dingy clothes
as the driver honks some more,

Alerting those in their towered homes
to bring down the "gold" they don't want,

And those with a sense of dignity rise 

and hand over their bin bags, 

And onto the next street the little truck 

revs away on its creeky wheels, 

To clear up some more of the evidence
that by night the city reveals... 

It's not enough that cows have shitting liberties, 

forsaken dogs can lay where they please freely, 

And crazy drivers can honk their horns unruly,.

None of this seems to raise any form of alarm

So they carry on staining the street with red spit, 

From blood shot mouths drenched in pun and tobacco,

And everywhere you go sachets of gutkha and cigarettes lead the way,

On the wailing streets of Bangalore where its just another ordinary day.

gloW

You've been down this road a million times but can't seem to get it right,

They laugh and crack at how your down but still you rise and stand to fight,

I know it's been a million miles and there's a million more to go... (Ayeh)

You should never let it go, 

Flicker just a little more, 

Light it up and let it show

There's more hope until you glow

Meet Joe, aka Mr average,

Never went to Harvard but for his mama graduated

Summa cum laude, ha, we'll never know that glory, 

Broken home, cliche story 

repercussion was he never got to dream,

Short as Kevin couldn't make it for the team

Wandered as a yungen steady always trying to fit in,  

They let him in, but he never really cut it,

It was obscene, how they let him foot the budget, 

Played him clean cause they knew his mama got it, 

That average green that just keeps you on the surface,

He played a donkey for the jockeys flaunting blondly 

Life got him like a roach, on his back in need of hope. 

Hurled into a new world, he broke down even more,

See race just ain't the issue, break it down to get the damage, 

Have you ever tried to fix an image that's been permanently tainted, 

White washed out the stain but the damage irrevocable?

So there he was, a foreigner; never spoke the language,
 so his mates in quotes they slandered,

Threw banter then they hugged him,
told him that they loved him, it's a cruel world to live in, 

But he ain't no victim, he's broken hearts like Taylor, 

Til you get down to the bottom of the truth and
find out that it won't fit if it's not tailored, 

He majored, in trying to keep a float after all the love he lost,

But walk that lonely road and sometimes God just ain't enough,

The party just won't work, so you head in for the drugs, average Joe he took a turn,

Tried to tinder lady Mary but they never really got along, 

He often thought of coco, but Mary blocked the gateway,

when he rode her like a segway, she rubbed him off the wrong way and made him stay away,

Johnnie walker slid in but Joe carried virtues of his fathers home,

But what do you do when your fathers never home,
mother's always up and gone trying to make a house a home?

You dive in and taste the water, your curiosity swims across,
and somehow you make it back on your own.

So he rose,  baptised twenty something years old seemingly too late to start to dream,

But what do you do when you're lost, alone,
and without a cause only to realise the only thing left to do is to...


gloW

It's okay not to be okay.

It's okay not to be okay.

There's strength in accepting that you are crumbling... 

There's strength in accepting that you can't take anymore, 

There's strength in barely hanging in there when no one knows what it's like,

There's strength in accepting fear, that way you can face it...

I won't tell you to be strong, I know you are,

I won't tell you to hang on, I know you are, 

I won't tell you to say a prayer 'cause sometimes,
just sometimes God isn't enough

Not when you're feeling run over and victimised by pain...

I won't tell you I know what it's like, I have no idea

But I'm here for you, here through your wavering strength

To remind you that you're stronger that you think and that
you shouldn't worry about what hasn't unfolded
or come to pass, it will only make things worse.

Thandiwe, ndi niwe

Amakungula (The harvest)

Amakungula (The harvest)

Life is a garden,
One where plant seeds along the way.
The phases are weather changes,
some of which favor the seeds,
others leave them in ruin.
But as farmers,
it's our responsibility to know
when to plant our gestures of kindness, wisdom,
knowledge, love, care and trust, or else- 
we stand the chance of being mislead or misleading others.
Time to rip what we sow.

"Agali awamu galuma enyama! "

Rainbow (New day)

When summer's larking,

And your dripping

Like an ice cone off an eave, 

You may start to think. 

That it will never leave,

Till leaves relieved from trees,

Fall freed from branches with ease

It's not death, it's relief, 

That's why they say rest in peace,

and then autumn too leaves,

And it starts to feel like, 

Winter only gets grimmer,

Till you take time off, 

To see her snowflakes- glimmer.

When you're out there collecting battle scars-
you didn't ask for and wondering whether you can take anymore... 

When each and every other day is going worse than -
the day before and you're starving yourself the freedom to live...

When it seems like your mind just keeps getting louder-
by the hour and you can't keep up with all the drama don't cower, 

Cause no matter how much your haunted mind is baffled and
hassled by troubles that make your heart stutter then shutter-
as a rabble of butterflies strives to break free- stay still,

And open your eyes...

Somewhere beyond all that darkness, 

There's a dream that you hide.

Don't deny it... 

There's a canvas and a story, 

Waiting for you to breath in life. 

Who am I? 

Am only a remainder, 

Of the greatness within,

So wait just a little bit longer, 

For the rain to subside, 

Then we'll see the sunrise,

Rise past the rainbow, 

Rise past the rainbow,

Of a brand new day.  

Filled with hope and opportunity;
because pain, pain is seasonal.

Cry to the world

Cry to the world 

Go ahead

Cry to the world,

Post it up and let them see your misery

Many will see you weeping, 

A handful will relate to your grieving, 

The mass will swipe right up onto the next thing.. 

Go on,  

Cry to  the world, 

They can hear you, but nobody is listening, 

Their ears are muffled because they too are troubled,

They are broken pieces: a jigsaw, their puzzled, 

Trying to build new worlds on their phones 'cause they can't face realities' struggles. 

Go on, 

Cry to the world, 

Where many look like they are glistening, 

But if you look within it's sickening, 

Theirs hearts are aching yearning beckoning, 

Yelling for some good ol' loving but
their desires are unrequited because no one understands them. 

Go ahead

Cry to the world, 

Where minds are burdened seeking pardon,

Where it's like a rose-bed yet really it's a thorny garden, 

And there's no virtual clips to chop and nip the thorns 

But still you're out their on patrol like it's a cordon but no one can bare your burden. 

---

Old dog Blue.

Old dog Blue. 

How'd I not see this through,

How'd I not know it was you,

Yet for all those days we shared stew,

You unlike happy Sally stayed true, 

Immersing me in sweet old blues,

You old dog, you, you're gone and I won't miss you

loud Mouth

Loud Mouth

His world revolved around her milky way, 

Each move predetermined by her omnipresence...

When letters were scripted to her in romantic gesture, 

Each letter exorbitant as wrought cost a soul, 

For each word paid its own price.

She was a vending machine,

His words were coins gradually dropped into her,

And as she clinked and clanked, she ejected the wrong emotion.

He got back onto his knees. 

Top chakra on the floor to say a prayer,

Spoke for a moment then let God speak in God speed to guide him.

Alas he had secretly prayed for disaster...

She said he lashed out when things hit the fan, 

and when she confronted him and broke down 

how their love was sacrificed when he angered her;

She lashed out!

She saw fault in his ways, 

He saw fault in her ways, 

They failed to accept each others flaws,

They kept flogging their hearts.

She asked him if he was truly in love or merely in love with the idea of love? 

He hoped it wasn't the case but the question opened up a case, 

where he was defendant bound to be persecuted 

because his plea seemed invalid.

He objected her accusation, 

let a deluge of emotion flow from his mouth like an open dam.

He hoped that his words would heal like an elixir or maybe reveal what was broken; ayeh,

All his loud mouth did was tear her apart, 

He looked at her cry, He got angry...

All he had to feel and deal with was  virtual emotion. 

No proximity for a hug her or room to express true emotion, 

So he spoke some more but his words failed him, he chocked!

He went silent, she stayed silent...

Where did you go?

Where did you go? 

Where did you go, my love? 

Where did you go?

I thought I had it all figured out, 

I honestly thought I did... 

I prayed to have you like many men pray to have riches,

And like a genie out a bottle, God granted my wishes. 

We'd hold hands till our palms would slowly start to slip in sweat,

And like they hold palm leaves on Easter only we knew what it meant.

To love someone without condition and to sacrifice for the sake of love,

There was innocence in what we had and we shared it all in half.

I'd take pieces of you like fruits off a tree,

You'd imbibe off of my honey like I were a bee.

We'd fight and forget to burry the hatchet, 

So our worries locked away stayed in our closet.

They'd creep out like ghouls and haunt us at our lowest, 

Patronising every heart beat till either one of us would weep

And slowly hearts that beat for one another started to skip,

Till God tested our will and as we tried to leap I slipped and we tripped 

I got broken, your state was inexplicable, 

And I didn't stay long enough to help you pick up after your fall. 

I am selfish, stupid, and inconsiderate...

I thought I had it figured out, 

I honestly thought I did...

Now where did you go, my love? 

Where did you go?

I see lovers snicker and gently bicker as their plates clink over dinner,

And my patience like every pull off a ball of yarn only grows thinner.

Am eager and slightly bitter but its only if one squeezed out my emotions like a lemon that they would discover, 

a lost and wandering heart trying to find hope and serenity in empty hands or just a place of its own to slumber.

I wonder, besides the wall you built, do you seek shelter in the arms of another lover? 

I don't know how to break your walls down anymore, at best am only a spectator.

It's no wonder I admire them in their places of solace,

Yet if I were in their shoes I'd oft feel troubled and restless. 

We want in, they want out,

When we're out, we need grout, 

When we're in, we have doubts

An enigma, I can't work out

Yet I only seek a hand to hold, a hug for warmth and ears that work, 

To hear me out as I chit and chat over things that leave a mark.

Someone to call my own that I can stare at deep and long,

Without lust but splendor over the beauty I behold.

Someone whose mind I can cross and they'd put me first before ego comes along,

To start a tag of war as one ponders back and forth over reaching in like its wrong.

Yet to be lonesome is appalling,

But how many surely know this?

How many know that when the money is gone,
friends too busy to tag along and the hour glass run out your calling,

You'll have no place to run to, no place to call home
for that one person you neglected walked out sobbing?

Where did you go, my love? 

Where did you go?

I thought I had love figured out, 

I honestly thought I did...

Blue Jay

I caught this blue jay one day,
she's a beauty, I must say...
I treated her to affection and taught her to stay,
She'd chirp and sing to me everyday.

I'd crack unwise jokes and she'd let me have my way,
We'd go out into fields and feel the breeze,
often I'd let her leave and fly into the wilderness of thieves;
fortunately, she'd return but speak little of where she had been.

I'd have to curse and caress her until she'd sing,
the beauty of music is how it makes you feel,
the flip side is the ambiguity that is overwhelming as a shrill.
So I was always lost in translation trying to decipher her will...

I often cut my heart out my heart out and put it on the table,
A thing she seemed not to fathom but kept her composure to guard her ego,
yet her mind went wild like horses let loose out a stable,
and I lay there beguiled and convinced by her melodious fables.

I used to enjoy singing with her,
we were always in harmony despite the times we'd spur.
I blame myself for I always pushed her far,
and her emotions would stir and jump out of her like fur

She'd always keep silent and I hated to see her sulk,
So I'd poke and poke, and sh'ed swell up like the hulk.
Alas, She'd never express her rage, she'd contain it and let it lay in bulk.
It daunted me and I'd percolate but learned to steam off.

Time spilt us apart, and when she'd sing I'd never hark,
I was miles away in parks laying back and watching birds.
Sometimes I would flirt, that's when the problems start,
but what drew us apart was Ivy in our hearts,

A melange of broken trust, miscommunication, and fettered lust,
burning fires of desire driven by expectations unmet,
and deep within loud yet unheard, our souls were tumultuous,
I bet we could have gone far had we tried to re-strategize...

Now we're enacting crabs in a barrel so much for being mammals,
I should have caged her, so much for a bird in hand,
Now she's somewhere out there in the sky flying- obviously
Ayeh, they say if you love someone, you have to set them free.

Fading lights

Fading lights

I let go of the person that was breaking me yet keeping me together,

I now have no strings, and the stench from my heart might as well be
what will end the life I keep thinking about giving up on...