Beginnings Poem by Godiah Imbukuleh

In the early days—happy days
Surrounded by love and curiosity
Surrounded by the smell of soil and dust
We were happy, free and natural

We only felt the pain of occasional hunger
And only shade tears under the stroke of a cane
We always found time to play football
And while herding, the itch to sneak off would be great
We would go hunting for the hare, the squirrel, and the antelope
at times, we would make a kill and roast the birds
The meat would turn out half-cooked but tasty
Then we would remember the untamed herd
And run back to find them strewn
In the blossoming maize plantation
Watched by the cattle egrets
We felt closer to cattle and sheep
and would scold the notorious ones

Meal time was feasting time
We ate without caring about getting fat
We didn't care about anything
We didn't care about our grooming
We were shy before girls
We never knew we would need them later
We felt uncomfortable before adults
We would avoid parents where possible

Friends and matches were more important than money
We loved listening to mythical stories
We were amazed by Rambo, Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris
We danced to Bob Marley, Madilu and Michael Jackson
Everything bordered on romance and sanctity
Moi was in charge and the country was subdued
Money was valuable but the country was poor
What you knew mattered just as much as whom you knew
A degree was a great academic achievement
And the world wasn't such a small village