Ngetich Kiptoo Poems

The medicine woman,
She told me to lift my left thumb
Then she laughed
Looked me over
...

I took a walk around the country
I saw many things;
kids full of songs, life, energy
youths drained of energy
...

The lump in my throat
Has refused to go away.
It wakes me up in the morning
Reminds me am still alive.
...

I have no words, only fears
Lots of them
Pressed in, overflowing
...

When I die, she told me
I would like to lie surrounded
By pious and loved souls
...

The ocean whines,
In hunger, in anger
It wants more
All rivers are running dry
...

I’m on a pendulum, swinging
I’m white, then black, but now am grey
I know you, I don’t know you
I am with you, lonely
...

Who knows what I feel but me
I laugh, dryly
To veil the angst beneath
I know the feeling
...

If you knew your last day
Where would you spend it?
Would it be at the beach- breezing?
Or at the park, meditating
...

I am lying alone, thinking
Sleep as usual has rebelled
Refusing to do what it ought
...