Salome Nduta
Governance (2017), Livelihoods and Markets (2017)
I wanted people to know what is happening in Kenya during Covid-19 and especially to mothers. The third poem is about what normally happens to Kenyans every election year and the possibility of making the year 2022 better than previous election years.
A NATION OF GIVERS
We are the Nation, we are the one Nation
We received with fear, the news of the pandemic
We received with confusion, the direction to follow
We were least prepared, of the outcomes to follow
But as a people, we soldiered on!
We are the Nation, that organizes better in crisis
We turned the crisis, into an organizing issue
We organized in groups, to respond to the outcomes
We revived our networks, and responded to the needy
….as people we soldiered on!
Each day we get data, of infections, recoveries and deaths
The numbers keep rising, and the response is stagnant
There is data we never receive, of what is being done
Our networks are busy, giving without expecting in
Because as a people we know when to step in and support
We are a Nation of Givers
Mother
A mother gives what she has and what she hopes to get
A mother remains strong even in times of pandemic
A mother walks long distances to fetch water -to fight the pandemic
A mother cooks food and if there is no food, she cooks stones for the family
A mother receives on behalf of others and gives without questions
A mother remembers others but forgets herself
A mother shields her own for she knows it’s her future
A mother fights for her family where no one does
Mothers are the same, all over the globe!!
Pandemic or Not, they will shield us, even if it means they expose themselves
We do celebrate you, even if Covid 19 made it impossible
When we rise together, we shine
After every five years I wake up with a stutter
Because it is that time when we become mad again
We remember our differences as if we just discovered;
- Tribe
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Geographical area
- Clan
- Education and many other differences
We clamor to be noticed and to be associated with our own
We forget the one thing that makes us the same, the colour of our blood
We fight, burn and kill forgetting there is tomorrow
I hope one day in five years’ time I will wake up and not shudder
Because we shall have realized together, we always win
And will set aside our differences because we are one
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