Flames of red waved at us yesterday
They dried up sweats of our daily toils
Turned into ashes things held dear
And they left – laughing
Yes, the flames laughed at our roasted tears
They laughed at fingers that pointed at everyone else except us
And dared voices of lament to rise above destruction
But we licked the ground and swore
Never again shall this be
Never again shall we be witness to this desolation
That sweeps away even the little we’ve worked so hard for
***
The sun went to bed
And with our tears it slept
So to our routines we returned
And placed our heads on double pillows
Dreamed of sacks of cash
We smiled over promised slices of national cakes
And blessed the hands that fed us at our point of need
Then we woke up — panting
It was no nightmare
The tongues of fire was at our door step again
Razing all things standing
Waving at us in sardonic satisfaction
Our dewy eyes saw what it saw once, twice, thrice…
They didn’t promise not to see again
***
We teargassed our forgetful minds
Washed our pain with coloured water
And looked at the smoky sky – asking questions whose answers we already knew
***
Today we hold onto hope – empty as it might be
Today we hop on hot ashes
And launch the rebuilding of a nation
Today we resurrect what just passed on
For we don’t lay our tools down
We prefer going back to scratch
And closing our ears to the question of the flames
–when will you really save Owino?
[First published in Saturday Monitor]
Journeys Within 