KRY BABY KRY

Old men shed no tears
Like the winds of the desert
Their eyes are dry
Lowering in respect my hat
Baby you will have to cry
Fleeting away in time
Of broken dreams and promises
Our lives seems like a crime
Blame it on me
From the dollar to the dime
Cry baby cry
Our betrayed revolution
Land grabbing by our founding fathers
Freedom fighters not getting restitution
Oppressing our people and enriching others
The ruling elite raping the constitution
Takes me farther
To the underbelly of imperialism
Our initially bright sunrise
Has gone all glum
All I see is the coming sunset
Our day gone to the drain
Baby I know you are upset
Because to survive you will have to strain
Cry baby cry

Poetic Licence

Poetry is an act
It changes with time
This poem for example they will react
But I will lose nothing not even a dime
My poetic dream will be fastracked
Leaving their mouth sour with lime
Alliteration altering alternately
Will lead me off the discourse
That is why I walk diligently
Never to sail off the course
Of my poetic script
Giving you alternating rhymes
To produce the musicality
Like bells that chimes
I want to say it manifestly
Poetry is not meters and stanzas
Especially for the contemporary poet
I want to be recited as far as Mwanza
Unlike Shakespeare`s this is not a sonnet
it is word play, no...It is rhyming last words
In this war I not know my opponent
Like in a casino don’t overlook my cards
Give me now
Give me my licence
All you literary critics
This is not me playing antics
It is my road to greatness
I want to be like Okigbo
Not just yet, but with time
I will give you my “LABYRINTHS”
Like that fallen Biafran
I lay my script bare
From it I have removed the kaftan
Do as you think fair
Award the poet, like car enthusiasts did the mustang
Give me that poetic licence...

HEROES

Heroes are not soldiers
Coming back home victorious
Not the generals
Strateging and running the war council
Heroes are soldiers
Coming back home in caskets
Heroes are men killed in battle
From Paris to Achilles
Che Guevara
Dedan Kimathi
Christopher Okigbo
Heroes are assassinated patriots
Pio Gama Pinto
Tom Mboya
Patrice Lumumba
Thomas Sankara
I cant name each one
But this is for all who died
For a cause, even just one
With your lives you paid
That is the ultimate price
Heroes are the young boys
Who left home and went to the forests
To fight along the Maumau
Their corpses all over the Aberdare
Rotting to enrich the soil
That they dearly loved and treasured
With not only hope but their lives
In your shallow graves
Your bones rotted away
All I say is how brave
You all went away
Your spirits at the dead of the night
Come alive to feel the air
The air of freedom
That they only harboured in their hearts
And laboured for with their lives
Heroes never comeback home
Like Malcolm X they die
Speaking their hearts out
Reformists, you will ask why
They are always wiped out
The Revolutionary cry
Has but died out
Because our heroes are dead
Dead and gone...

LAND OF MY SKULL

Broken dreams
Countless screams
Battered wives
Lost lives
Our leader`s impunity and corruption
Our betrayed revolution
Our forgotten freedom fighters
Our persecuted great writers
Your struggles
Your hope and expectations
Your troubles
Your sacrifice and persecution
Calls me back
To the murky waters
Full of dejected voters
My broken spirit
My vision of revolution
My mission of emancipation
My heart
Calls me back
To the land of my skull

by Kamal Ogudah©

SOCIAL NETWORKING

Facebook, myspace, twitter, foursquare.......
Social networking
Nkt....it is truly networking
This is my story
I want to tell it ASAP
I know you will not feel sorry...
I had just opened my accounts
Facebook, twitter, myspace
Unlike my bank accounts
This were truly revolutionary
Said all the major dailies
Because it connected gangsters to missionaries
Blah, blah, blah.....
We did not have a fight
But
What did I do last night?
Give me a second
Oh...right
It took just a second
To lose my princess
All I did was worthless
Share, was to share
What was in my mind?
But this is not fair
“That girl has this accentuated behind
I want to have just a poke”
That is what I updated
On my Facebook and twitter status
I thought of having it deleted
But 10 people had already like the status
5 tweppers had it retweeted
And my profile
WTF...
Relationships...single
Interested in ...women
Looking for...dating, friendship
Then with ten comments
On that status update
I picked my phone to comment
The last one seemed familiar
But all it said was “NO COMMENT”
It did seem peculiar
But I went ahead to add a comment
“I won’t just poke it
But will feel it all night long”
My friends urged me on
Some begging to be tagged on the photo
Of what I would be feeling
This did hurt someone`s feelings..
Before I slept, like always
Had to check that fair smile
Of the world`s most beautiful girl
For whose love I would go that extra mile
I went straight to her profile
Her update was a few minutes old
Like mine
It was bubbling with comments
“We are done”

Kamal Ogudah ©