This color chapbook comes from a poetic journal written in western Kenya in January of 2012. During that time, I saw two Africas, the one of the safari tourists, and the one of the people of the Eldoret region. The two are distinctly different, intersecting in a land of immense beauty and populated by a resourceful and resilient people.
Mzungu, Hello
The best stores
are tucked
off the street
and burst
with handcrafted
treasures of
wood, soapstone, and weaving.
The prices are
modest to my eyes,
but I do not count shillings
as a local
and walk the two blocks
from the ATM at Barclays
to the arcade
safely under
watch of the
blue uniforms
cradling
AK47s.
are tucked
off the street
and burst
with handcrafted
treasures of
wood, soapstone, and weaving.
The prices are
modest to my eyes,
but I do not count shillings
as a local
and walk the two blocks
from the ATM at Barclays
to the arcade
safely under
watch of the
blue uniforms
cradling
AK47s.