Affiah Odhiambo

I write to exhale the exhausting rush in the world,
this mazed haste everyone seems to be in.

I write because it's a nutritious delicacy,
...

Africa tantalizing my senses
my sunny slice of paradise
laced with purple honey.
...

You walk into the office as you do every morning,
The hypnotizing fragrance of your cologne excites the air,
My eyes, secretly follow your exquisite steps,
You reach for your seat, I negotiate with my heat.
...

Society dictates, it irritates
They claim they know
what I can and cannot do
They say they know
...

As society dictates
What you can and cannot do,
What you should and should not have,
Who you should and should not be,
...

Every time he moves
towards me, smiling
You see me smiling back
a lot you don't see like
...

Dear Beloved,
It is with utter urgency and solid sadness that I write you this letter. What happened to us my love? We used to be happy you and I. They all envied us: our friends, our neighbors, the foreign forces.

My love, do you remember all those holidays we treasured so? How we hypnotized them into opportunities? Opportunities to celebrate each other; to renew our vows, to remind the world of our bond, our union, our love. Be it Madaraka day, Labor day, Jamuhuri day, Kenyatta day, Moi day; we painted the towns red, white, black, green, the sacred colors of our rainbow.
...

We have to be the voice of our time,
we have to tell the story, the story of a nation,
a nation of a people, a people of diversity,
diversity of wealth, wealth of resources,
...

As I write you these lines,
the melody of your laugh chines
Slicing my tasked heart
Seeking to make clear my part
...