Six lies I told at Trattoria

Six lies I told at Trattoria

Lies so spectacular, she should have called her lawyer

We were to meet at Steers, where burgers are cheap

But she opted for taste, so we crossed over for some pizzeria

The first lie was that am asthmatic

Can’t stay out late in cold and stuffy

Nairobi area

Second was that am due for promotion

Will buy her a house after the trip to

Her mothers

Third was that am a professional photographer

With a photo-studio full of celebrities and portraits

She likes

Fourth was that am a political gatekeeper

Mingling with the mighty, connected

To power

Fifth was that am not religious

Never took sacrament, from Francis

The Pope

The last was that I like hot chocolate

Set her on a wild chase, for paper cups

From Java

I also mentioned that I was once a boxer

Danced around the ring, in fights

For sponsors

Now you understand my glee and dilemma

It’s now ten years since I wish I had told her

It was all for show, when we had lunch

At Trattoria

***

Trattoria, Nairobi Dec 2015

Trattoria restaurant Nairobi, Image courtesy of Brian J. McMorrow  http://www.pbase.com/bmcmorrow/image/54793086 

My six rings

I've got six rings on my left fingers
Give them to friends who meant it all
in a season so hazy, am lucky to now write

The first is to Michael, 
my younger brother
dancing his way, inseparable from his cause

The second is to Mose
my campus buddy
Conquering foreign exchanges, to bring home the bread

The thirds is to Edgar,
my basketball team-mate
Now a behemoth, graceful and conscious

The fourth is to Vincent,
that soft-spoken ninja
A friend in need, born for this time

The fifth is to Edwin,
that overweight apostle
A child of circumstances, now dining with Kings

Last but not least
that wonder-boy James,
A man of many skills, contradicting but timely

I wish I had more
but rings are expensive
they cost both time and heat to test

With the six am free from the shackles of need
Accept me as I am
Coz I've now come of age

* * *
Club 227 
9/12/2015

My six beds

I've got six beds in this unfortunate city
Tragic necessity for a man on the run
Two are temporary while three are leased
So its one out of six that does give me rest

I've got six married friends in this forsaken city
Subdued priorities negotiated in lust
Two gave up while three are on their way
So its one out of six that will never be free

I've got six bank accounts in this expensive city
Extravagant habits imposed by greed
Two are empty while three are overdrawn
So its one out of six that maintains my supplies

I've got six undocumented children in this hidden city
Defective contraceptives from ratchets I regret
Two I don't remember while three are yet to be named
So its one out of six that am yet to figure out

So you see its the sixes that break my luck
But the seventh day I look to
For there lies my hope

* * *
Nov 2015

My six remarkable exes

I've had six remarkable exes 
whose story should be told
Full grown women who 
brought joy then remorse 

Love is a narrative 
That kids love to explore
in infatuations so bleak
The bills will explode

The second and fourth were queens
to behold
So promising and secure
I though I had it all

It turned out that their expectations were designed 
in old clothes 
That their parents handed down
in legacies yet to be told

I regret the fifth one
For she was less spiritual and rough
Prepared the way for the sixth 
Who now breeds cajoled  

My curtains are now dark
But I still carry my own weight
Wish mama was here 
She would have filtered it all

Love is so brutal 
But success comes with hope
Still I've had six exes 
But I bleed and ignore

A woman of the future 
is minted in tired wombs
For the pain of birth 
brings relief to the unborn

My sun is almost setting 
But am sure she'll ride home
Number three should have been the direction
From where my sun should have shone

I've had six remarkable exes
Whose pain I now mourn
But my chariot is here
Now am ready to atone

Seven should be my stop
in case I don't go home
A man can't be tired
and expect to be known 

* * *
Deuces Club 
Kablagala, Kampala, Uganda 
November 2015 

Don't let her go

Don't let her go

Every man needs a doll
She could be the one
The drone that sets off 
other pawns

A queen can only stretch that far
Selective ironies are difficult to expend
On defective debts that we now place 
on bets so obvious

Our parents regret

***
Club 227, Salem Nairobi
October 2015

She's my milky way

She's my milky way,
of all the stars that cross my path,
she's my easy day

None compares the trail she sets,
she's my pawn to stay
Twenty years the galaxy's gone, 

I mourn the April sun.

She's my tilting scale,
weighs so heavy in a heart so trapped,
she's my prison break

But love should last to bring her back
she'll commit to stay
To me am glad in chains that bind

But I've found my way

***
15th Sept 2015, Diani, South Coast, Mombasa

She drew a snake upon my back

She drew a snake upon
my back
A snake that stole and sealed
my trust

She knew that snake would hold
my bag
I can't confess and hold
my cup

I'll have my say upon
her heart
Wonder which finger she used
to point my back?

She drew her snake upon my back.

***
July 2015 #POTUS
227 Nairobi

She's my big girl

She was my big girl
Mighty and spendthrift
her purse was packed with currency 
so liquid

I floated in white sands

Planted as I am 
I retained a stitched nose
Soon I was to be called
to inherit her bag

Surprise for my kinsmen
who now beg me in
turns

She is my big girl

* * *

Italian restaurant -Mtwapa, Kilifi
Aug 2015 #MaBeachBoy

But I thought she knew I was broke

But I thought she knew I was broke
Son of a tailor,
how could I afford iced toes?

Seems like am alone 
but yet I am owned

by distressed housewives
whose husbands got lost
in flimsy escapades
that they knew won't be 
owed

With currency so simple
Surely love must be 
bought

I wish she knew that I was broke

* * *
Kilifi, Aug 2015

She sent us the same text

I didn't know she sent us 
the same text
Nasty messages 
that made us invest

In forays so juvenile
Our appetite was ring-fenced
Have mercy Lord for
money can't fake

Her relentless acuity
to men who cheat 
and congregate to 
infest

***

Sun and Sand Beach
Kilifi, Coast
Aug 2015

She burnt my lips

She burnt my lips
Naughty french
kisses
Stolen on her man's back

We never knew how serious it was
Until we searched the greying walls
For scars from abortions
that left no trace

Still we kissed 
and wished him luck
as he punched the keys
to pay for our drinks

She burnt my lips.

* * *
Breeze Hotel, Busia
30/7/2015

Milking them dry

I first saw her on a facebook
post
a galant soulja 
milking them dry 
on frivolous costs,

She came unto me like a pillar of salt
Sodom and Gomorrah melting 
on the spot

Who knew her name
now that the bill is brought

Too many ladies
trying to make it count

Never trust a man 
who declares his pain,
Infront of a  woman whose 
crucifix is blurred

Its so sad that we never get to lift 
it,
In honour of the fallen whose graves 
we now trot

* * *

Buru buru 2.0 
July 2015
 

Bank heroines

Most of them think they are needed
Indebted bankers, surviving on 
missed calls

Soon they'll discover life is
more than installments,
bare chested heroines
submerged
in debt

A solitary straw 
in an empty glass
half sliced 
lemon in a crystal plaque

Who will call you when your 
bundles wrap,

Shame isn't smoking 
but it is
in the borrowed match

A bank is a bank, only if we
go back

* * *
July 2015

Not Perfect

I realize,
God has given 
me,

a job that's not 
perfect

a family that's
not
perfect

Friends that are not
at all
perfect

But He Himself is perfect
and so are my kids
perfectly irresistible

Only God is perfect and
He chose me
in His eyes
am just
perfect

***
Club Mercury, Nairobi
26.6.15 2126H

Duty-free love

She sent me for duty free perfume
Smuggled love that suspended me 
in jest

Who told her that love should have a scent?

For we both expected our tales
to buy us time, 
time was the very fragrance,
with which all our deeds were measured

I wish I had told her of my luck in-flight
I wish I hadn't dropped the 40ml bottle
in business class distractions, 
that tucked me in bed

She shouldn't have sent me for duty free 
perfume

***
Kenya Airways, KQ 418, 30,000 ft
6th December 2014

Freed prisoners

Its a pity I can't keep you
for the gold in bonds

Freed prisoners tend to
bring out brawls

Today am sorry I left you
for another man's pawn.

* * *
December 2014
Nairobi

Fantasy home

You pretended you knew
words to my song,

Bare chested neckline and
a second hand thong

Swinging left then right
Your hips were worn

How else could we court you
from your fantasy home?

****
December 2014
Buruburu, Nairobi

The I Priest

To the I-Priest
proud like a pregnant goat
Most sermons you preach
only teach your ghosts

of those flocks you lost
in abundance

How many more children will
you defrock
You've been seen and heard to boast
to your flock,

Of late night escapades with widows
in frocks

***
November 2014
Kendu-Bay

What I saw

If I told you what I saw
You'd know that
most people don't care to throw

But if its a thing to be
sold
Who else
would remain within this
broken raw

***
December 2-14