Kibera Inside and Outside

Inside these slums,
In kibera,
Where millions live
And now
Where millions will die
Lives and its dreams
Inside these slums
I am a little child
With most beautiful smile
Too little to understand
Too little to escape
Stories of historical context
My mother would recite
From her book of stories
Gone she now,
And her book of stories
So I see
Inside these slums
Machetes and plunder
Mixing of blood in this earth
Stories of bondage
And stability in evaporation
Bullets inside my head
And hunger outside me
I am a little child
My mother gone,
And her book
Of historical stories in dust
I search her warmth
All around me in this chaos
Help me find her please
My voice not strong enough
As I hear the drone
Of bullets and blood
Inside these slums,
I am a little child,
With residents of death

Outside these slums,
In Kibera
Not far away
From stage of destruction
Still in search
For my mother and her book
Of stories and comfort
Too little to understand
Too little to escape
As I remain seated
Watch they me with envy
The world and its cameras
Watch they me in wonder
The world and its words
Lost I have, my smile
And my hunger
Remain I seated here
In hope, to find my book
Of stories, my mother
Bring they picture of me
On their screen for comfort
Gone my smile and my life
All they have a face
A fleeting glimpse of time
With few remains of rice
On my face, on my hands
The last meal, so long ago
And gone those stories
Inside and outside kibera!

Kashkin