Tell me about the time you lived
that one time you felt everything
when rainbows created butterflies in you
the dust from raindrops tasted good
the tapping of rain pellets on your window
how you counted each one after another
Tell me about the time you lived
when muddy puddles sparkled your heart
moonlight on an empty street healed your soul
that one time when you climbed trees
and ate java plums while hanging on its branches
Tell me about the time you lived
chasing after the sound of the posho mill in injerekha
balancing shimwero on your head for a chance at small talks
or how the village came alive with disco matanga
and you created large bonfires dancing late into the night
when caution was in the winds and the world was yours
Tell me about the time you lived
remind me about the stories of Indeche the humpman
stories that sent chills through the village and fear in your veins
only to realize that the ancstors were protecting you
because they knew you had a different assignment
you needed to go out and be a Nandiri, fulfilling dreams
Tell me about the time you lived
telling endless stories by the maika with kukhu
sleeping in the same hut with firewood, cows and chicken
and yet experiencing a peace irreplaceable to date
grounding yourself with the earth and all in it
when nature protected you so you could live
giving you memories to remind you to always come back
Tell me about the time you lived
soaking your feet in the flowing rivers of mulwakupa
hailed by mutarakwa trees aligned like street lights
how about the early morning msamaria mwema bus rides
with mud wedged shoes from the red clay sugar soils of Mumias
protected by the 'dangerous' cane cutters of the twilight
strutting into Kisumu town at dawn squeezed in a pouring bus
reaking of market sellers and fish mongers headed to nam Lolwe
just in time for the first streaks of sunlight
Tell me about the time you actually lived...
