Slavery

The pictures painted are of collar chains,
Of black oiled skins and dirty nails,
Of half-naked men and grungy hair,
Of loads to carry physical and mental.
Of Black is the slave and White is freedom.

You might think slavery is long gone.
The 21st century is of freedom and rights.
But lo! The chains have been rebranded.
The nails and skin are well polished and oiled.
Colour is still debatable depending on where you travel.

Your lense defines your view of the world.
To be a slave is not being locked up but limiting yourself.
You still can lock up yourself and be ruled by the unknown.
Every fear that controls and bounds your action is your master.
Every obedience to fear is slavery.

We do not know how to live free.
Going through life pushed and following orders.
Scared and living with our heads down.
Shutting any idea that our brains think.

Life pushes people who do not think for themselves.
If you cannot dare defy the rules already set,
Are you not a slave?
If you are not free internally or externally.

If your wishes cannot become a reality,
If you are cannot free yourself from stress, debt or addictions,
If you are not free to be who you want to be
Political, physical or financial freedom is not 100%.

“I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,” Jessie Belle Rittenhouse

How Can I Be?

When my blunders are always a present,
When my reference are people graver than me,
How can I be free of this?
No happiness or joy,
No love but hate in my soul.

A betrayer, a thief, and a liar
An outcast among those who call you friend,
How do I believe in what we are?
What I said and did always haunting me.

The best of us is just but a glimpse,
Moments that fade away like seconds,
Nothing is permanent, I am always off your presence,
How can I find my identity?

You say you love me,
When my acts are of the unlovable,
You say we are my strong,
When all I have to offer are weaknesses,
You say we are,
When I cannot trust your promises.

Free me from my past,
Today will be yesterday.
Tomorrow will be today.
I will always be aware of my actions.
Make the best out of my present.

A Happy Place

Where I define my freedom,
Where I shape my philosophy,
Where my limitations are no weakness,
Where my heart belongs.

It’s a desire that fuels my goals for living,
It’s a source of tranquility and pleasure,
It’s my life’s workmanship,
It’s a representation of my abilities.

With a supreme mind, I search,
I can already visualize my accomplishments,
In my cognizance, I know how it feels to be there,
I declare to myself of these achievements.

A place of liberation from all my self-doubts,
A place full of love and harmony,
A place of appreciation and recognition,
A place I will be complete.

Everyone is in this journey,
But few make it to the end,
Time and opportunities are available to all men.
What does it take to get there?

jones

For you negatives, I need no vigor to in print.
With a million excuses in my brain, I cave in.
All my positives need robustness, assertion, and belief.
It is a war between habit and thought for a cure and comfort.

Feeble are my concentrations against you,
Always in desire for you.
In my pondering you summon,
That we are betrothed.
A norm wanna be a persona.

In your company, I think I blossom,
If we are not bonded, my body is not mine.
My nerves are without purpose.
I cannot taste, feel, see or listen.
You are a persistent, nagging want.

It’s all pleasure with you in me.
I give you my all, will and power.
I am a servant to a substance,
I don’t care for anything but you.

You have shivered my dreams.
You have broken my family.
Destroyed my path and profession.
I let down my Jesus for you.

A tinny glimpse of me says,
You are not desirable, a need not to be desired,
My system can be optimized without you.
I cannot live two lives.
I can own myself, I’m strong

Was I born fixated on you?
Where did I lose myself to you?
I’m so selfish when I have to choose you.
Can my life be better?
I need to believe in myself.

You are not my god.
You are not my identity.
You do not have control over me.
I am the image of God.

I have switched Him for you.
But not again, not anymore.
I desire fullness that only God can give.
I desire a constant love that you cannot give.
I am over these moments of pleasure.

I believe am not alone.
I Am not depressed.
I am over my guilt.
I Am going to Christ.
Not to you.

Your chains and pains are broken.
My love to live is fulfilled.
My purpose is found.
My life has meaning.
Not in you but in Christ.

Your Modern Preacher

Who can know the heart? Out of it are the issues of life.
The heart is deceitful above all other things
Desperately wicked, feeble and lascivious.
But again from their actions, you will know them.

Passionate for self fame, to top the world.
They know no faith but focused on what the eyes can see.
Glory and all honor to the work of their hands.
Fighting for their ego and orthodox production of miracles.

Their speech is sore and full of dry scriptures.
They cannot love where they cannot eat
Trading souls for money in the house of God.
They shape the word to fill up their belly and pockets.
Hearts of men are misled hidden from the face of God.

They distort God’s message to His people.
Branding themselves with big names.
Pride leadership, not a servant to the calling.
Conforming to the world in all ways.
Their language is dirt cannot give life or lift hope.

Their path is complex trying to balance life and gods.
To bless they believe is their right.
They bring people to themselves, not to Christ.
Money is their benchmark not winning souls.

They are human as we are,
Sometimes broken and lost as we are.
They do not live for a higher purpose than us.
The sorry thing is they think we are beneath them.

They travel the world collecting their followers.
Asking them to bow before them.
Walking on their bodies or special paths.
The de la cream on earth cannot touch the poor sinners.
It disgusts me cause they are human like us.

And these lost sheep who heed to them blindly.
Believing their destiny can only be found at the preacher’s mercy.
Closing their hearts to the voice of Christ.
Attending a preacher how they should attend God.

They serve a phobia known to the world and all humans.
They use fear of demons to command worship from their followers.
Scared and weak, blind to the power of Christ they oblige.
This is blasphemy, search and know the true power is from God.

Power is not given through any other preacher.
Let your faith raise and receive power through Christ.

NOI┴∀Ɔ∩pƎ

They said to my younger self.
Education is the key to success!
To my sister, they taught,
Education is the husband that will not divorce you.
But what is life with that education?

How do chemistry and physics help me live?
Even biology does not help me in times of stress.
I was caned when I failed, that I was a fool.
But in life failure is the best teacher.
Good grades do not guarantee a good life.

I wish I was taught to overcome fear and take up challenges.
But no, I was taught to memorize and spit out on a pen and paper.
My brain was like a robot, to take instruction and to follow.
My genius was called dump so that I could belong to the masses.
We all get an education to be employed and serve the government.

I submit that the system is corrupt.
Our children can be anything they what to be.
School and education are partly scammed.
The path to a successful life is hidden to us from childhood.
We are shaped to be slaves to the system.

Imagine having a free mind with no fear of impossibilities.
One that takes up knowledge and is not limited.
Because that is what our brains are capable of.
But we are corrupted to believe otherwise.
To be dependent on an education system.

We are viewed as a product and a workforce.
Masses are unemployed but masses still flock university gates.
After which a fraction works for school dropouts and others lay wasted.
What then, with a limited brain, we cannot think for ourselves?
What is life at such a point?

See a list of school dropouts who beat the odds and succeeded;
Steve Jobs
Billy Gates
Henry Ford
Charles Schwab

There are two kinds of knowledge, Specialised and General,
Faculties and universities posses every general knowledge
They specialize in teaching but not the organization or use of knowledge.
Knowledge will not accumulate money unless it is organized and directed for that purpose.
Knowledge is not power, it’s potential power.

I am not saying schooling is wrong.
But poor grades are not the end of life.
All brains have equal potential to face life and succeed.
Do not be limited to your education.
There are seven forms of earning a living, Education is but one of them.

MAMA

Your voice was soft as a kitten and radiant as the sunrise.
You spoke with kindness to command, correct and commend.
I loved to hear your golden words “I Love you son.”
These are the treasure tanks of your words of wisdom.

The world will want to enslave you, son.
Have the soul of a free man and do not be afraid to fail.
You are the strength of your parents never forget.
You are African and Kenyan but love knows no boundaries.
Take care of those you love and be of good cheer with a bold heart.

When you are tired eat something rest then resume, it’s called metabolism.
There are no chores for masculine or feminine.
When life serves you lemons take them and make lemonade.
Carry with you a strong will and desire to achieve and you will never give up in life.
Be a step ahead always, because what you believe you get.

Poverty went to no school but it bullies the schooled.
Do not allow it close to you, it can come through your desires or a friend.
Sometimes it can be a beautiful lover whose urge you want to gratify.
Remember your worth and increase your wealth.
Health is wealth money cannot buy and faith is a medicine for the mind.

Happiness is free and gold cannot buy peace of mind.
Treasure the simple free virtues of life and be a man of good deeds.
Work and free yourself of any pain that life pushes to you.
Educate your brain not only in academics but also in life’s lessons.
Because son Algebra and Murphy’s law never cured depression.

You are my fulfillment and a work of art I thank God for.
You will always be in my prayers son so I make sure you flourish.
Whomever you meet with let them know your creator and your Mama.
My role have I executed with love and care, Lord knows that.
Discipline also to keep you, lest you too go astray.

Do not be a friend to anger and focused on negativity.
These ruin and destroy in seconds what was built for years.
Take time to think and process your decision.
I will not always be around for good mental health.

Mama! as a child and even in my adulthood, I remember you as an everyday aga.
The moments of affection that build the foundation of who I am today.
How you made me smile from toe to lips, you were my superhero.
Your voice still babbles happily like a mountain river.
Long live Mama!

Ties That Nev’r Bind

You would think that medics have seen it all about body parts and are comfortable but wait until it’s with a person you love.

Falling in love is amazing, love enters the soul of each person and emerges as their passions in the arts, in science, in nature… in whatever sparks their curiosity and drive and cannot be attached to a specific moment but it only gets better when people are diverse so they celebrate love in ways you cannot imagine. We all know love is blind but what formulates that darkness for men mostly is the taste of her body in his fantasy or her skin tone or basically his definition of beauty, which you already know beauty is in the eyes, hands, tongue, and ears of the beholder, now that is the biggest scam I know of. Because beauty cannot hold water, it’s not dependable and cannot be owed by anyone and in the length of time, it is vulnerable.

So for my friend Bones, love equal beauty and beauty equals body, so men if you have ever been in love alone following a beautiful girl you know how it is. Anything she says is the law to you, her wish is your command literally because your heart feels like she is the only medication. And that’s why you know men out here who have taken girlfriends to school and never ended up marrying them, the blindness is a scam man, love with your eyes wide open.

Bone was a medic, been through all the clinical rounds and even the horrific theatres of KNH, so he had seen deformation in all kinds of manner and both genders, but man something was still waiting for him in life. You know how you have experience in your profession but not in living life, yes that kind of a thing.

So he lived largely, money was no problem in his late twenties traveling our beautiful country, a boy from Nyansiongo, that’s Kisii county for those who don’t know. Good brain when to Marani Primary toped his class, when he thinks of that life, shaped in poverty but not owed by it, he thanks God and any time we meet for coffee he takes six spoons of sugar, I ask why man? Then he is like I have to compensate man, those days in primary schools drinking coloured water for tea with sweet potatoes or sometimes ugali from yesternight then you sweeten your tongue with sugarcane as you walk to school barefoot, I have to drink more sugar I can afford it.

In Marani High School, he scored an A in his KCSE, then came to Nairobi University to study medicine, his Kisii accent is one laughable attribute and works as an icebreaker when he meets new people.

So the village boy is now in Nairobi, you know my dad used to tell me, boy you cannot survive Nairobi, the women there will eat alive or drive you crazy, comparing to these you are trying to rock, that was back in the days in Bungoma, the land of helicopters.

So Bones had no problem with his brains and classwork, his problem was how do I crack and fit in this society of people he never knew existed? He got used to his classmates laughing at his accent and he created his social chi, learned social skills from friends who thought they knew more than he did and is it not all the same for most people out here.

So after the six long years of medical school and the ups and downs of campus life, this young man was ready to face life, which he thought he knew about. I wonder why we sometimes think education is key to facing life and why I studied chemistry and mathematics equations that are useless to me and nobody taught me how life will be challenging and how I will deal with my failures and emotions. I think that’s why doctors smoke outside hospital gated and drink alcohol later, it’s like a healer killing himself, can you imagine.

There is a pain and an emptiness they feel and all the biology and hormones they have learned cannot help them. Worse all if they have friends who know nothing. And most of the time we do things because decisions have been justified by people we know regardless of their knowledge or experience about the issue, this reminds me of how Bones lost his virginity but that’s a story for another day.

Now a doctor, Bones knows all the four chambers of the heart and how it pumps blood and how the arteries are related, basically that’s what I can remember from my biology. But the heart is deceitful above all other things, who can know it? This just means it can betray even the owner.

Bones loved what his eye could see, men let us just agree on this even Adam saw Eve before he knew her. We see and we love (full stop). Bones saw the rangi ya Thao, chupa ya Fanta and he melted, this was the one he would leave all other mpangos for and stay loyal. Her name was Nyasuguta and Bones decided had found one he could settle with, just from looking remember, because nowadays people talk a lot behind their cell phones and when they meet they are all on their cell phones, meaningful interactions are minimal, so a few dates now and then she accepted Bone’s proposal and they settled.

This Nairobi life it’s easy to settle you just get a one bedroom or bedsitter outside town and a few sleepovers and a few long weekends as she marked her boundaries which become months and you settle. Tasting the waters and planning to marry when everything is okay or you are ready to take her home, the list can go on and on. Bones was not a shy one, luckily he found this rare light skin Kisii girl, no offense but they are rear. Because imagine she was a Kikuyu, oh! Those lectures his Grandma used to give him and threats would be haunting all his decision in his involvement. I don’t know why but our mothers mostly influence the character and tribe their sons marry, I cannot say for other tribes but mine and Bone’s that sh*t is real.

Before they could accomplish their set requirements, Nyasuguta was pregnant and they had to decide so Bones thought and they were in a stable relationship and financially they were doing fine so they were official pregnant. A few photoshoots now and then for social status. But man shoots for pages women are overrated, I have seen some and I wonder where do they get the muscle to do such, but you know women they challenge and pressure each other.

Bones being a doctor Nyasuguta was in safe hands, he could take her to all the prenatal clinics and their connection grew to depths they never imagined, not the ones for pregnancy craving myths, you know in the middle of the night is when your pregnant wife is like I want pizza from Dominos in Thika Road and you live in Mlolongo or the one she likes policemen and you have to take her to a police station at that moment, crazy stuff men go through.

They were deeper into love, Nyasuguta was happier she was carrying his baby, a man who had changed and gave up everything else for her, he loved her so much, she was the love of his life and she accepted to live with him, Bones had not paid any dowry, I know it’s debatable but they were in love. Delivery was successful and they had a beautiful bouncing baby boy, she adapted very well with motherhood and the dad doctor is always present to help so their life is shaping some meaning now.

I got to know Bones just after he was a dad, so we lived in the same neighborhood but we met in the hospital and we just clicked, I got well and being a father too we could meet up and talk sharing life experiences and improving each other. For some reason, Bones always thought I spoke some wisdom and wished he had met me earlier.

So today Bones has big obstacles and most men in marriage have experienced it. It’s the reason he called me and booked me the whole day. We met in town and Bones wanted we head to somewhere private for our discussion, we headed there. Entering the restaurants the aroma of the mediocre food overpowered all other scents you would imagine licking a plate or a tray before you were served. So we sat in an excluded corner which was like a cemetery for melamine.

“How is life Bro?” I asked, “Am good, maisha ni kung’ang’ana tu!” he said that’s like the Kenyan way of saying I am still in there, things are neither tuff nor soft. We ordered, catching up about our working life and latest news, mayengs and corrupt’s latest headlines and of course our brother, the new tribe in Kenya, the ones competing with the business tribe of Kenya, you still don’t know? It’s our Chinese brother, last I had a MP was detained by the police for hate speech on their businesses in Gikomba.

It was his treat so I could eat freely and not worry, you know that kafeeling. After that we touched base and talked about our families, the challenges therein and Bones was picking my mind with questions on different topics, remember he is treating me as a wise man. I shared experiences and lessons from my past and he shared his and we learned from each other but the core of the matter was not done.

“Man, I can’t keep up, Nyasuguta has changed,” he said, ” Changed how? ” I responded quickly.
“The girl I loved, is not the looking the same, she is now fat with stretch marks and flat breasts, how did you adjust?” he asked. I was not prepared for this, on top of my mind I did not have anything to say, what I knew was we loved differently and we loved different people, but his obstacles are real and men are facing it out here so I kept him going so he can speak more.
” Nyasuguta has not changed, does she not love you anymore?” I asked. “She loves and respect me, handles me like a man and especially a Kisii man,” he said. One of the suitable reasons why his grandma told him to marry a Kisii girl was she would know how to handle a Kisii man with all their stereotypes of being romantic and with a hot temper.

“Then what more do you need? So long as you are not urging she is at peace and you love her and the baby is doing fine there is no worry, you still have feelings for her? I probed Bones was silent for a while, then he said “Bro I love her but not like I used to, now I cannot even take her to swim, she used to be like a red hot Ferrari cruising on the beach, all eyes on us with her brown skin and perfect figure. Now she cannot turn me on, and there is one more thing I have not overcome bro, I was in the delivery room when she delivered, I cannot imagine it’s the same place for my pleasure, my mind drives me crazy man” This is a man who has seen it all in his career, the difference is that now the change has happened where his treasure was.

Loving someone for a reason is a scam, like all the reasons Bones loves Nyasuguta had expired, “Bro she carried your child, basically she is like that because of you” I insisted. “Does she know how you feel?” “I don’t know” he said.

“Now what do you want to do?” I asked him.
My wisdom was not enough here, life can change and there is more to marriage and relationship than good looks, now Bones cannot leave or stay away from and loving someone else the same change has a high probability of happening plus its not something that can be changed even if Thanos snaps his fingers.

The journey to normal for Bones is not an easy one but he has to change his priorities if he needs his family to work plus it’s like rebuilding a mindset brick by brick, of course, it is possible.
Now there is much comfort as am holding Bones’ hand like a brother in this journey.
Success is within reach, for those who are not yet there make better choices, what goes around comes around.

The Author

You can create and are a boundless source of new possibilities.
Time never stops so create talents that can fix your subject matter, this world.
Pages of life are never blank even when our lives are without a breeze.
Our reality both success and failure are experienced to their fullness.
Our emotional strength and our most depressing moments too.

The best trust can be alive in your relationships.
Trust is a responsible freedom without chains of doubt.
It’s caring for the core of the heart of each other.
It’s an agreement of oneness in mind and action.
Perfected with time and experience together.

Belief is core to be human, the truth of which defines our individuality.
If we cannot believe we get lost without meaning and purpose.
Believe in what you can be to get through your tough times.
Believe in the dreams you have and make them a reality.
Your certainty; positive or negative.

Our identity tainted, not even our mothers have control over.
The environment takes its toll on us and we still push on in our diversities as a united human race.
Childhood trauma never gives up on us in our adulthood.
We recreate our identity brick by brick, over and over adapting then time just stops.
Know your habits and tame them, what you accept you receive.

Your body is a machine that creates energy and force at your disposal.
‘Garbage in garbage out’ is a life rule not only for data analytics.
Whatever you do to your brain yo do to your body, spiritual, emotional and physical.
Health is wealth and your brain owns your body.
Exercise it as a muscle and your potential is limitless

You are the author of what you live and love.
Create your inspirations and break down your problems.
The decisions you make are like your hand’s painting.
The results are the final product of your work.
You got the power, beneath that pressing spirit that you have more than often ignored.

Our thinking cannot be any better than our actions.
Our thoughts cannot be any better than our understanding.
“A freeman looks at life as a series of his creations and as his heart embraces the beautiful spot along his way he braces himself to withstand his blurry fades of the next episode that shines its rays deep within”

BUBBLED HAND

No, it’s not the end of the line for me.
I am burning out but not fading away.
I can sleep on an empty stomach.
My blood is still warmer than the outside cold.
If I stop hoping I freeze dead broke.

My dreams will blossom tomorrow.
I love life though what falls on my retina says otherwise.
My mentality is as powerful as the heart and spirit of a poet.
Though today my clothes feel thinner.
My resilience is not limited to my thin pocket.
My will power forever prevail.

Not ashen, I can afford a glass of water.
My face gaunt but my future fired up.
Time is plenty for every man to accomplish his efforts.
I will not give in to social pressure.
A plane is a means of transport,
What it’s not is success.

Go to school, get an education, the fact is;
Employment is a short term solution.
I will not be a slave to the rat race.
I will not allow my desire to bring me to poverty.
I will use my emotions to free my mind.

I do not live to pay bills and die.
My empty pocket irritation is alive,
It’s not my greatest stressor.
Depressed, no! Not when I can choose and control my satisfaction.
In my dreams I can hear the sound of my Chevy.

How does financial status affect our thinking?
The greatest thing about money is that it is fictional.
So for a creative mind there are endless solutions not to be broke.
Comprehend the difference between pricelessness and worthlessness.
What do we owe each other for unconditional love?

Money is a declaration of power,
Power is a manifestation of fear,
Having money is not freedom from fear.
A society obsessed with financial status, power and vanity crumbles.