Poetry

Poems of Love and Pain

By Maurine Otor

Leon-Nel Ooh baby! French I’ll call you lion, So you are, I call you sweet heart I wanted something, A thing my own, I didn’t know what, Till you came along. You surpass my expectations, At times I feel, You are too good to be mine, But here you are, baby Moz. You are the salt in my life, After all, seemed unworkable, You are turning my life around, You arouse my determination. I’m living, Just for you, Love you baby, Mom moz * * * * * God If God were animals, Calm they’d stay till tended, What of birds? They’d chatter, And sing all day long, why worry? The trees! still, unbothered, Enjoying wind. Grass, powerless, un-defensive, Stars, little helpless glitters, Sun, short lived scorching fire, Moon, calm light of the night, Just for a little while, They seemed the best, When man couldn’t rest, Only air can be God, Ever, I’ll breathe. * * * * * My Fault I see you baby boy, Your eyes so meek, Your mind so humble, Unaware in your innocence, But you’ve got it, My poor Lee, I love you, but I can’t bear it, I weep all night, I am shaking like a leaf, The twing in my heart, Painful beyond description, My secret silent prayer, Is you are okay, Coz you deserve not, Paying for my negligence, Forgive me sweety, For my fault. * * * * * Uganda My Love I love Uganda, Looking yonder, I see the borders, So I grow fonder. Ask me why I’ll say because, He or she passes, 1,2,3, You lose a beat, She’s a catch. To her you fly. I love Uganda, Don’t ask why, It’s erotic, Like meeting her, While a hug can’t be, It’s possessive, My u-cord is Kenyan, Spiral cord, Ugandan. I love Uganda, But it’s mean, In kissing its bride, Let me die in longing, Before the wedding, I love Uganda, Uganda my love. * * * * * Our Mother Planting Time In the crack of the morning, She leaves, Child on her back, Water put on her head, Hoe on her shoulder, And a tin of seeds. Planting season routine, As our mother fights, To out do hunger, A mother, Every family’s back bone. * * * * * My Momma Sweet mama she is, I must confess, Having taken her sweet days, I in her, She managed to bring one to the world, None can overlook this, she’s truly sweet. My childhood sickness she overcome, Ever with me, in the hospital beds, Just to see happy the fruits of her womb, She is a gift direct from heaven heights, Her luggage I was on hot pavements, Pebbles pricking in to her feet, sun overhead, She preserved to her destination, Never once was I a cruel burden to her, Her bones are worn out from my weight, Through many stages she’s led me well, She’s forever at my side when I despair, Lifts me up and counsels me, Oh! Mom is wonderful and my greatest gift ever. * * * * * Yester Woman Cheek back in to the past, Women or objects? Battles, insult, rape name it, All on yester woman. Child on her back, hoe shoulder Water bucket on her head, She’s trying to shape her family, But no appreciation from a man. Yester woman has to be inherited, Refusal leading to poverty, Husbands property taken, She’s sent away empty handed. She has no say, as, Her farm produce is negotiated upon, Her daughter married young, Yester woman shouldn’t object. Arise, you woman, Don’t be stepped on, Stand out in the crowd, And voice your needs. Ignore discouragement, Fight for success, So as not to live, Yester woman’s life. * * * * * Raped Under the scorching sun she lay, Pondering over the next step, Tears coursing down her cheeks, Because of the under pain. She lay there thighs apart, Flies invading into them, Her dress waist high, But hands so pale and weak to help. Bleeding profusely for hours, She ran out of fuel, And feeling no more, She had to go. * * * * * Famine Struck The air was dry, Vegetation almost none existent, Children looked old having wrinkled skin, Desperation was in the air, None sure of reaching next minute. Water was a fortune, Green leaf, manna Surviving cow, a god! As they brought survival hope, Their scarcity haunted all, Of the village in drought. Many were stories like this, About determined mothers, From the village in drought, Exhausted the mother sank down, Holding in her arms the famished child, Thinking they are full, It made for the drained, wrinkled breasts The mother, never resisting. It continued to suck, But never got a thing, Disappointed she raised her head, Eyed the willing eyes of her feeder, And understandingly, slipped off, And lay beside her mother. * * * * * Departure I love home, I love my family, I love my friends, I love to be happy, But I got to go, Tears in my eyes, It is for a change, I have to depart, From my homeland, Kenya.

* * * * *

Maurine Akinyi Otor, born in 1982 from a family of nine, lives in Jera sublocation in the Nyanza province of Kenya. She studied at Sega Girls primary School then Lwak Girls High School after which she proceeded to the Kenya Polytechnic for a diploma course in Personnel Management. She is a small-scale entrepreneur with a basic interest in creative writing, which she began as a teenager. She has written several articles yet to be published. When not writing she spends time researching. As far as her social life, she interacts with different personalities who have made it so that she can learn and be mentored through their experiences. She wants to use her management skills to run a publishing house.

Check out also, Maurine Otor's Kenya Dear