Of My African Mindset

There lies the grave... There lies the open yard with graves of fetid dead blood, Here sadness and endless cries of African Orphans have been forever buried, There lies hunger and pain, Emaciated eyes of the unborn yet to see Where blood knows no age, Alongside deep depths of silence, suffering, hopelessness The ever crackling of expensive imported guns The blood-flow contaminating the stream waters Has now ceased And now clean water can be drawn again But with trembling feet of our African women, Who draw water with legs that are ready to dart, The sleepless nights can now relish on slumber As grass grows on the graves that have stories untold Where specters of violence, pain and inhumanity Now peacefully rest. I say! Look at the grave yard Where hunger, poverty and illiteracy Are now laid for eternity; Look at the rays of a new dawn Without the ugliness of silence Listen to the birds chirp again, Listen as the rejuvenated African drums Sound at a dista...

Of late, I have come into contact with the weirdest of people. Not by way of their physical nature, but by their way of character. I have been in close proximity with a man that talks more than the idlest of minds, a woman with no sense of pity for another, a teenager who oozes words of shame to his elders..well, a crazy world it has turned out to be. Or so I have come to learn,.. In many ways, we learn how to live with people, to talk, to listen...we are born bare...with minds that are blank and ready to capture whatever is around us. We grasp like little babies, imitate those around us, learn words that build or destroy us, act on every single thing we find our little hands or minds can reach... Being a child is one of those amazing things we experience..BUT...Wait...Its just once!...then we grow up, most traits we acquire from our parents, neighbours, school, the law of the land. We learn what gets us into trouble, what really makes us happy, we sacrifice for love and things ...

Does your Facebook status update define you? For me, maybe, no idea! Am usually a different person on social media, quite different from the actual real person I happened to be designed in real life for. You see, social media helps me create a person I tend to think I am. Or who I believe should be! It usually works, I reckon maybe. Am one of those shy creatures. Maybe shy is an overstatement. Am quiet. The lone person that just sits and listens..listens and barely talks, I usually find myself playing 'dead-bug' in every crowd. Almost always pretending the wings beside me are cut off. Helps me get away with cold, brutal murders! ..just kidding! Well, it's a nice game to play. Soon you discover what material people are really made up of (not that it really matters) but in a world of man-eats-man, its somehow important. Knowing who sits next to you, who lives next to you, that's important. So hiding behind the veil of darkness and quiet, it tends to pay off. Quite e...

By unions conjoined, do my words offend thine ears? They should, but amiably I blame the heart of thee, Who confounds to natures rule of law free Of a man with strength that maketh my breath thus flee Look how one kiss, transformeth the sole heart of thine manhood From sweet husband of another, to a lover of friar Despite of matrimonial oaths thus flawed, These be their golden times, they so seem bored Two misplaced souls in a lone lust of cage That seemeth to lead to a path of destruct By Carolyn Gatonye The above is a poem I wrote. Not so long ago. Of a relationship between married people; who are not married to each other. Or just people who cheat(in committal relationships). I wrote it as I wondered, "What makes people cheat?". What really does? Does a person wake up one day and decide, well, tonight am gonna break my vows. Is it the boredom and routine? The "getting used to the same stuff"? A close friend once told me he cheats because the wif...

"You looked at her and yelled out, Instantly never thinking of how, That may have made her feel. Did you ever stop to think that she, Dressed like that because of how it Made her feel?...." The poem reads in part. When I first read this poem, I said to myself, "oh jeez number one culprit of judgement". You see, am always judging people. I will make a comment in mind of how a woman has dressed,make a face and go "whatever" when someone looks at my legs. I have never really taken time to ask myself why a person is how they are. Am sure the throne of judgement gets sat on by each one of us..on a daily basis. Do you cringe when you see people kiss or hold hands in public? Whisper words like, "braggers", "she will get dumped". Do you find yourself laughing at a fat person and quickly judge her? "consequences of french fries", "how does one get that fat? Wasn't she checking?". Or when you see a man in sweat s...

This is a piece I wrote back in 2010. When the love for the environment was a task I knew was something we can all achieve if we set our minds to. I I dreamt, A simple black dream Where the land lay bear Frosted with heat and dust, Thorny bushes crotched on the rocks, The southern wind hushed any roaming dark cloud Old women trotting the dusty roads Their cheeks peered in to meet their eyes’ sockets And a feeble little hand came to grab me, So I screamed…. Whoops…, thanks God, twas just a dream II And immediately I glanced to the coast And the waters burst the shores Where one Shimo La Tewa once set root And now, the kids played no more And had made the palm trees a sudden haven of refuge So again I screamed… A frightening cry Whoops AGAIN…, thanks God, twas just a dream! III So I forced my eyes to look West Where I saw fish gulping for air The lake a diminishing form fathomed by none And little malnourished boys looked with droopy eyes Their eyes the hue of the scorching sun Wh...

8th March: International Women's Day, For the strong females in our society, The ones that made us be, The mama that carried us for those boring, agonizing, nauseating nine months For her that works hard for her children The ever good example to her daughters To her that never tires And on her shoulders bears the pains, regrets, tears and yet she stands To the loving woman she is growing up to be The little girl she once was Cheers to you A woman of worth and substance Coz its through you that the world is made light And through your eyes, we all make light Cheers to my mama, Cheers to my loving sister, Cheers to our little (Angel) daughter!