Category: Uncategorized

No poem this week, but a bunch of lessons,

1. The sun will always rise. . . When you are caught up in situations of instability, and you can’t seem to latch on, focus on the one sure thing. . . So long as you are still alive, . . . the sun will rise.

2. Find the stillness within yourself,

when the noise outside is too loud. . . listen selectively. . . even to the voice in your own head, that voice can also lie to us, it is not always factual, sometimes it listens to our distorted emotions. Filter all the noise, because as we grow older, voices that attempt to influence us grow as well, it will get noisy, we need to be selective, to focus on the voice that encourages us to be better, to add value,. . . then let the rest go.

3. Learn not to rely too much on peoples’ sense of justice and/or goodness, rather try and instead focus on what we can do at any one time. Focus on doing better, then it won’t matter how loud our surroundings are.

Remember that you cannot entirely fault people and fault yourself, most humans can only relate to other humans to the extent of their own experiences. The views of most will likely be one spectrum, extending to ourselves and the range of our experiences.

4. Find your Centre, that one place where you can be yourself, that shield when things are confusing or difficult. . . because they will get difficult at some point.
-My Centre has always been my faith, my belief in God, and the relationship we are both working on. This Centre is my shield, my help, my love. . . I trust my Centre when I can trust nothing else, even when I betray myself and do things that hurt other people, when I need forgiveness and the strength to bounce back.
It is this Centre I hold on to.

4. I guess lastly would be forgiveness, it’s a bit paradoxical this one (shaking my head) but forgiveness is the fruit of life (hands raised emoji).

Forgiveness is protection from a negative or/and toxic environment. It’s not really about letting someone get away with it, in so much as it is about not letting people pull you into their own darkness. Forgiveness clears your own mind, allowing you to objectively analyze a situation, place responsibility on the right parties, account for your own conduct and swiftly move on, be it towards self improvement or away from toxicity.

Hope Nyambura.

I envy your strong strides,

How good you look in jeans. . . You carry them, they don’t carry you. I envy how sure your laugh is, how you clearly state what you want,

I miss watching you stride beside me, your steps strong and sure,

How your strength made me feel stronger.

I envy your Independence,

How you never stop trying,

I envy how you make everyone around you happier, how the lights look brighter when you walk into a room,

I envy the memory, of the strength I felt when you held my hand, how confident I felt knowing I was part of a team.

I envy the memory of our talks, how you managed to untangle the cobwebs of unresolved thought, how you helped the unscripted, raw thoughts morph into butterfly ideas, how my worries felt alittle less dounting.

I envy how you are not afraid of sorrow, how you stand firm and offer comfort, but know when to leave and recharge.

I envy the memory of your belief in my ability, how you refused to tolerate mediocrity, because you knew I could do better. . . I envy the memory of knowing that I was loved, even without it being said.

Above all I envy how you are not pretentious, how you say what you mean and mean what you say.

I envy the decisive.

I met Ms. Maya’s work in my early twenties, when I was still full of idealism and brush about aged words, not that I was in anyway anti-learning, just anti listening.

Aged words like aged wine require an appreciation, you need to give your palate time to appreciate the flavor of aged wine, the aroma, the richness, then finally . . . an acceptance and understanding of the taste, finally you can clearly articulate to another what the wine tastes like, how it makes you feel.

When you give in to the kaleidoscope, the riot of flavors, the rich bouquet of aroma and essence then you are better placed to explain and appreciate what you are tasting. Words, aged words, like wine, need time, they can only be fully appreciated over a stretch of seasons.

Back to my story, I came across her work, and at the time I read it in a rush, trying to catch the flow of her prose as opposed to taking in anything she wrote. I did not want to absorb her meaning, her intent, or maybe my mind was not enlightened enough, my experience mature enough, for me to sit, read and digest her words, in turn developing an appreciation of the words that she wrote. An understanding that they are not to be be used loosely . . .without care, but that her words are a precious trove, a gem of learning, a reminder that nothing is really new, and as such nothing cannot be overcome.

I read one of her poems again recently and found it so relatable, the ability to relate was partly because of the development of my exposure and experience, since I last read it, I’ve hurt a little, fought and won some battles and understood a little better the strength in silence and the victory in humility.

So I begin with an appreciation of one of the greats, a bowing to the lessons of age, experience and time. An appreciation of tragedy, hope, wins and loses. An understanding that in every single experience a lesson can be drawn and an opportunity provided to learn and to grow.

thank you.

Hope.