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Grandpa

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My grandfather is quite the story teller. As children, we would always seek him out during visits as he would gleefully tell us the tales about his life. He wasn’t one to make up stories, as he would show us photos, letters, basically to prove to us kids that these stories were real. I never questioned the realism of his tales as a child. Young children rarely take a story as fictional, at least from my perspective. The man who traveled all the way from Nabiswa village in Bungoma to witness the burial of Mzee Kenyatta in 1978.Peter Wamalwa Mukhwana is his name.Born in 1937 and circumcised  in 1956(Omunyange namba tano).His father was Mukhwana and his mother Veronica Naswa. He’s warm, loving, firm and straightforward. He has a way of accepting whatever came his way with no more than a shrug. His deep catholic faith carries him through what life has to offer. One of nine children, he pulled himself out of poverty with great drive and determination but he never forgot his roots. He wa
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Now two!

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Dear Mark So, here we are,  another year later —and today’s your birthday. The second year was so much different than the first. You didn’t see daddy more often. By the time you turned one, you weren’t walking, much less doing more than crawling. But all that changed just before you turned 15 months—you became an Olympic speed crawler, and before we knew it you were walking, stretching your hand to reach for the TV, playing around with electric switches and getting into all kinds of trouble, including but not limited to bumping your head on the table and falling off from the sofa. I still can’t tell why standing on the sofa to reach the window was fun. The KCB’s Wafula and Koinet’s advert was your favorite. You were the baby who didn’t move a muscle—now you’re the toddler who won’t sit still.Funny how fast things change… You know, I think of you many a times. I know that when you get older you are going to ask me what happened with our family now that you don’t see me more oft
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Roses to Uncle Eddy

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I still remember that dark Tuesday. 5.42 am was the time. I received a call from my younger uncle, Jamo. “Jomba tulijaribu lakini Mungu alikua na mpango wake.Mjomba wako Wanjala ametuwacha.” Since then, I have hated Tuesdays. The brown varnished casket shone under the midday sun. It bore the scent of wet paint, as does most new coffins. The man therein, pinned helplessly by the hands of death, was my beloved. Someone I had desperately loved in life. I didn't know, whether I loved or pitied him in death.  For a long time, I stood, starring at his face. The skin had turned ashy, with little droplets of sweat. Curtained behind his delicately shut eyelids, were big, innocent eyeballs. His nose still stood, sharp. Why couldn't they breathe, at least one last time, for me? His lips were still alive. Full as they had been, in the many years we had known each other... All these while, I was convinced my uncle was asleep. I knew he would wake up, in due time... Then,
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Unspoken

My mother is pregnant again This is her second pregnancy since my father died Is it not said that only a widow knows where her husband is? Today, I must cease being an orphan Today, I too must be told where my father is! . The man who sleeps with my mother is a bed wetter This is the fourth time he is accusing me falsely Is it not said that whatever is whispered in the night, a child will shout at dawn? Today, I must let the village know Today, the elders will hear about the immature inheritor! . The man who eats eggs in the kitchen with my mother is not my father This is the sixth time we are fed on bitter herbs as he wipes his oily lips with the back of his hands Is it not said that a good husband will leave the meal for the kids and eat their mother instead? Today, my mother's husband eats both Today, I too must eat the egg or the hen! . The man who urinates on my father's grave is a witch This is the eighth time I'm uprooting withered flowers from hi
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Rejected

My in-laws  I will not pay anything as bride price for your daughter Not even the orphaned calf plucked from suckling the teats of its dead mother  Not even the careless hen that lays its eggs in the bush for the wild cats  Not even the retarded ram that attempts to mate with the he-goats Not even a week old, rained on chicken to please my mother-in-law I will not pay anything as bride price for your daughter! . My in-laws  I will not pay anything as bride price for your daughter You may not know this, but of what value is your daughter to me?  I have already tasted her sweetness and spat her bitterness  I have put her on the path of motherhood, right under your roof on your matrimonial bed  I am a man of dignity, I shall not act like a dog that licks its vomit  I will not pay anything as bride price for your daughter!  . My in-laws  I will not pay anything as bride price for your daughter You treat me like an honourable guest, not knowing I know this home more than most of you I know
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Love Misery

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The worst part about being in love is the misery, fear and grief that comes along with it. Your dependency on another person to make you happy and not knowing how to be alone. You are glad you have someone but you wish it didn't feel like your heart was anchored to the knots in your stomach. You wish you didn't have the constant fear of losing someone you care so much about. The pangs of anxiety make you question if it's all even worth it. But then you look into their eyes and feel the way they hold you and think about the way you get lost in their eyes and you want that feeling to go absolutely nowhere and stay with you forever. You obsess over your future together and get so hopeful because you know that's all you need to be happy. It's all you want, and you hope you are not crazy and hope they feel the same way.
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Always say goodbye

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That easy Saturday you'd wake me up by pulling my beads.You'd follow me everywhere in the house as if I'd run away from you.You'd cry at the bathroom door as I take a shower.You won't even let me brush my teeth in peace you had to follow and imitate daddy.No chills as dad was in control even as mum was out for work.Fully dressed in heavy clothes complete with socks and Marvin,you were safe from the July cold in Nairobi. I was dressed in a pair of my navy blue shorts and a t-shirt.I know this was an assurance that daddy will be indoors all day and won't leave you.Breakfast is served by aunty.You leave your sweetly prepared uji and opt for my sugarless tea.Its not sweet at all but you decide to have what daddy has because daddy is never wrong.You reach for the remote control and randomly press.The channel shows your favorite KCB cub account advert.That is your favorite I know.I had even requested uncle Evans who works at KCB to send me so that i wo
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