Excerpt from Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
The Days That Broke the Calm As October closes, the full scale of Tanzania’s post-election crisis remains unknown. The number of the dead and detained is contested, yet the weight of grief and fear is palpable across the mainland and beyond, including in Kenya at the Namanga border, where violence has spilled over and families…
Jirani kalazimishwaKashikwa kinywa kwa fosi kapanuliwaPilipili kali katiliwaMeza usiteme! KashurutishwaHii ni halua meza, kimasomaso kahadaiwaMbona nisile nikitakacho? Auliza jiraniKwa nini nile uamuacho? AemewaJirani alia, taabani kajipataMachozi yamtiririka ja maji mferejini
Beware of the trap
The fowler’s cruel snare
Woven with guile to bind the lost
A tree has fallen. The rumble of its fall reverberates through all of Kenya, echoes throughout Africa! The crush of its fall has flattened hearts with heartbreak! An ancient tree is fallen!
In the beginning, love called the world into being. In the end, love will be all that remains.
Better to dine in patience with the One,
than to feast in haste with the many.
Once upon a time, on a sunlit playground, I saw two pairs of children playing tag.
My first journey to Mombasa was, partly, almost a joke. It was serious business – I was going to represent the UoN in the National Music Festivals – but there was a lot of fun and play too. Years later when I reflected on the trip, I realized that it presented me with a wealth of wisdom. Part of that arose from my observation of nature during the journey and my stay at the coastal city. Enjoy this poem that came from my consideration of the moon and the ocean.
Hope and freedom are among the most enduring human values, shaping how individuals persevere through difficulty and how they imagine the possibilities before them. In literature, these values are often portrayed not as abstract ideals but as lived experiences captured in image and metaphor. Through the constancy of hope within the soul, Emily Dickinson in…
Outward bound
I saw you limping
I was glad
To bid you farewell
Your frigidity for months
Forced layers upon layers on me
Still, you linger
You keep turning back
As if you forgot something important
Be gone, winter
Overstay your welcome no longer
The Caged Bird Sings 