Waneciria!
Wanageria gutarania!
Ciuria ciembebaine
Ungiendwo Gigikuyu

Mwendwo Wanjiku….
Rubaru rwa ngoro yakwa
Winyerekia waku
Ungucagia hakuhi nawe
Marashi maku
Munungire ndumaga iniuruini
Gutheka gwaku
Gwicokegira ndi toro
Kio giaku
Nyonaga mutumia ngatha ari we
Unyaukite kuri riua rikiratha
Githemithu giaku
Kinyorokete kwi ngilathi
Tuika wakwa Wanjiku
Matha nanii gugikia
Koma nanii gugituka

Itikira tuthii Rware
Ona Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga ngutware
Mugunda uikurukaga iria, uki na mai
Gitina ona kimwe ndukarima
Thithino itu tuhuranage
Mbeca cigiuka naiyu naiyu
Tukomage tuthekete
Ngurumo itu iihuire mbembe
Niguthakira ngoro yakwa mwendwa
Angi othe ni muingi wa gatheru
We wiki
Gikeno kia ngoro yakwa.

© christine njeri

I want very simple things
I want to understand you
I want to you to hear me out
I want we cherish each other
I want more time for us
I want you near me
I want to hear your heartbeat
I want to spend a silent moment with you
I want when I look in your eyes
I see my reflection in there
I want your reassurance
I want to have you close to me
I want that no matter the distance
For me you are just an eye blink away
I want to laugh with you
I want you to dry my tears
I want you shoulder to lean on
I want to give you all my love
I want to tell you all my secrets
I want to be with you
I want to be the only one
Give me the assurance
Give me the promise
We will fight through thick and thin
We will be together forever
And not a soul shall separate us.

© Christine Njeri

If I were a musician in Kenya I would:

1. Grow dreadlocks with a receding hairline like Nameless
2. Sell out when another better opportunity comes along like Didge.
3. Become successful and gain weight like Nonini.
4. Emigrate to the US like Nyashinsky..
5. Smoke weed and then deny it in interviews like a certain female Mc.
6. Represent my neighbourhood like Juacali.

7. Be controversial like Bamboo
8. Start my music career while in my thirties like Circuite
9. Wear bling and floss like Prezzo
10. Help launch my girlfriend’s career like Mustapha.
11. Use a diss song to make a comeback like Klepto.
12. Be in two music groups and also have a solo career like Wyre.
13. Be a one hit wonder like Meg C.

© james wamathai

Why can’t she take me as I am
Love me for me
Revel in my strengths
Understand my weaknesses
then it dawns on me
that maybe we weren’t meant to be
maybe she’s not the one

art by a. smith

© james wamathai

I hate the fact that I love you so much
I hate the fact that I love more than just a lover, but as a friend
I hate the fact that you make me need someone-you
I hate the fact that I feel I need you here by my side
I hate the fact that I feel you are filling a void in my life
I hate the fact that when I close my eyes, you’re the first thought
I hate the fact that when I have a goodnight sleep is because I dreamt of you
I hate the fact that every beautiful song I hear, I relate it to you
I hate the fact that you accept my faults as that’s part of who I am
I hate the fact that you call me beautiful even on a bad hair day
I hate the fact that my heart skips whenever I see you despite all this time
I hate the fact that you make me so happy, I forget my pain
I hate the fact that you love me when I don’t feel loved
I hate the way you look into my eyes and see my soul
I hate the fact that I can cry in front of you and no one else
I hate the fact I can’t pretend in front of you as would be with anyone else
I hate the fact that when am weak, you are my anchor
I hate the fact that these words are true
I hate the fact am not there by your side reading you this
I hate the fact that I don’t have the strength to admit to myself that I’m not a one man army
I hate the fact am missing you undeniably
And the most of it all, I hate the fact despite all this hate I just can’t let you go because
I love you so….

© wambara wham

Give me a pen and I shall write.
About my country’s poverty and the poor man’s plight.
The politician who always promises to make things right.
The farmer who cant feed his family due to manufactured blight…

Give me a pen and then.
I shall tell you about Chemuren.
Got married when she was barely ten.
Just so her father could afford to build a pen.
Big enough to hold his family plus the lone goat and hen….

Give me a pen and I shall make you my reader.
Tell you tales of pain and over ambitious leaders.
Men talking of women as if they are just bleeders.
Politicians who talk listen but none are heeders…

Give me a pen and I shall draw your attention.
To the stuff the priest did that we dare not mention.
The way the pastor spoke of Christ and his strife.
And used the promise of healing to impregnate my wife!…

Give me a pen and I shall bleed.
Of the joblessness as she says she is carrying my seed.
Barely able to meet my own need.
Now thinking of an extra mouth to feed…

Give me a pen and let me write my past.
For I have seen and done things vast.
Made marks in society but none seems to last.
Competing in the human race yet constantly coming in last!…

Give me a pen and let me shape my dream.
Of bank accounts plenty and cups full to the brim.
Enough for me and she and maybe him.
Still enough left to uplift any other without a whim…

Give me a pen…

© jemedari

I always see the shadow of you
Wherever I go
Yet we’re no longer a part but apart
You killed my spirits
When you eloped with the one-like-me

I felt lonely, cried
Thought of ending life
Lost hope, love and peace

But since you’d gone…
I threw bait in the river
And caught a large healthy catch
That replaced you
Though your shadow follows me.

© mburu kamau

He conquered my heart,
He iced my bruises,
He embraced my doubts,
He loves me.

Still I cry
I’m afraid,
It seems so familiar
So peculiar and very different
That is for sure.

I think I like him
I don’t want to believe
I love him so.

His kindness leaves me surprised,
His love freezes my time.
Oh… his touch awakens hidden desires.

Still I’m afraid,
I know the story too well
But, I don’t know him that well.
Honestly I still want to go on.

To feel his love,
To comfort in his embrace,
To smile at his gaze,
To go where our hearts lead us.

For only then will I know,
If we are meant to be.
See, love is a gamble
You win some you lose some.

© sarah n.

Mtf67ruyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyuyjffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy7rrrrrrrrrrrr7rrrrrrrrrrrr
Pressing one key then another
He clearly knew not what he wanted
The night was bleak
In his lonesome he remembered
He was paying for his crimes
He had been a lifelong player
He had broken fragile hearts
He had devoured their purity
He had crashed their spirits
He had thought himself a conqueror
The game had reached dead end

There was no sound of a fan cheering
There was no one to give him a hearing
He wanted to settle down
No woman wanted him
He looked everywhere
In the villages,
In the clubs,
In chat rooms.
They were all gone
His only companions
His keyboard and mouse
He was too much of a man
He allowed no tear to run
All he could do
Uuuuy833333yr3r83r39
As he paid for his crimes.

© Christine njeri

Read the reviews here:

• WamathaiEx Event Review By Kawiria
• #WamathaiEx: How it went down By Joliea

See the photos below:

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