Out Of This Mud

Being a human being
Can be a little depressing
A little frustrating
A little humiliating.
Especially when I remember
I am just but mud
A ball of dirt.
Soil particles mashed together.

But out of this mud
Let new life emerge...

For everything on earth
Everything on this ball of soil
Grows
Everything
Finds life upon this mud
Out of this mud
Everything finds sustenance

Vegetation
Forestation
Valleys and mountains
Rivers and fountains
Grass, fruits and trees
Flies, ants and bees.

And so I now speak forth
To this ball of dirt I call human
Let new life emerge..
Let new vegetation grow green
Let trees and flowers of all kind blossom
Let new rivers spring forth
Let animals and insects of all kind
Birds and fowls of new feathers
Flock into a new reality.

Out of this mud
Bring out a new eco system.
Let a new man form
Let him rule
Let him have dominion
Let him have the breath of God.

Out of this mud
New life emerges....

Munuhe 2016

My Balloon

The dilemma of having a balloon.

Should I have it un-blown

And keep it safe.

Should I blow it

Enjoy its beauty

And risk bursting it?

My balloon...

What should I do?

In The Furnace

When going through rough times,

When experiencing tough issues,

It feels like you are in a furnace.

Extreme pressure,

Heated processes,

Straining means,

Pressing needs,

Crushing burdens

Challenging circumstances,

Pushed against the wall,

Torn in between

In the furnance

Gold, silver and diamond get purified

Wood and plastic get burned down

Clay gets hardened.

Stone break into pieces.

Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego

Get glorified.

But you know what?

Life is a furnace.

When going through rough times,

When experiencing tough issues,

It feels like you are in a furnace.

What are you made of?

Mother For Sale!

Would sell your mother?

Would you sit and do nothing 

As your mother is being destroyed?

The one whose breasts you suckled,

The one whose womb incubated you,

The one who nurtured your fragile life

Into a well fed, now energized human being?

The one whose hands held you and cared for you?

Would you sell your mother?

And why do you sit there 

And allow them to destroy mother nature?

Why do you say nothing when our wildlife is being poached?

Why does it not move you when they grab forests, national parks and water catchment areas to erect concrete structures?

Why is it not your business to take care of the environment?

You watch as they cut down our lungs and our shade

You feel nothing when our beautiful mother is being mutilated

Fertile land being wasted and rivers being polluted

You keep quiet as they sell our mother to those whose intentions are evil...

Why do you just stare and not dare?

I speak for my mother,

I speak for our mother,

Though homely and natural

She is the one we want

Don't try put on make up on her.

Though her beauty seems to fade

Her wisdom none can replace

Stop trying to replace her noble role.

Though her skin sags and her back bends

Her strength none can match.

Stop lying to us

Though her fertility you now doubt,

Her DNA runs through generations 

We can still dignify her motherhood.

I speak for my mother,

I speak for our mother.

Leave her Alone!

Munuhe 2016

Calm My World

When I get still to pray

The inertia of my busy life

Keeps my mind running

Wandering all over the places.

By the time i get to still my heart

My busy life is calling me back to action

Disrupting this so needed time with You.

Teach me Oh Lord

How to live a stilled life

Show me how to calm my world

So that in the motions of my life

I can hear your small still voice.

Divorce me from hurriedness, drivenness and busyness

So that i can live again

In the singleness of a quiet life

Where I can hear the whispers of your heart

And touch the stillness of your majesty.

Munuhe 2016

Cross Road

The Teacher Said,
Look Right
Look Left
Look Right again,
And if the road is clear,
Cross.

I looked right,
I looked left,
I looked right again
The road was not clear.

I looked right again
I looked left again
Then again,
I looked right again.
The cars sped off
The rush was building
My patience was running out

I looked right
I looked left
I looked right again
Why do I even look left
And all the cars are coming from my right?

I looked right
I looked right
I looked right again
And I wondered if I will ever cross the road

Munuhe.

Carry Your Own Sunshine!

Some day you will wake up

Source: Google Images

And the skies will be grey
The horizons will be dark
Carry your own sunshine

Some day you will wake up
And the air will be wet
The earth will be muddy
Carry your own weather

Some day you will wake up
And the sun will scotch hot
The air will be humid
Carry your own weather

Some day you will shiver to the core
And the clad will be heavy
The rain will be much
And the paths impassable
Carry your own weather.

Some day you will wake up
And things will not go the way you want
And in that day,
Carry your own weather!

Regrets

I regret burning all my bridges

But now I know
That is water under the bridge
And now I know how to swim.

Google Image

I regret closing those doors
But now I know
That is key to future opportunities
To open up new realities.

I regret leaving them behind
But now I know
Speed guarantees no success
And staying together is staying ahead

I regret shying away
But now I know
There is no glory in not trying
Doing is the highway to greatness

I regret not regretting earlier
But now I know
The journey is the lesson
Experience is wisdom for tomorrow

And now I regret no more
For my regrets have brought me here
A place of great learnings
A place of teaching others. 

-Munuhe

Doing Right

Doing the right thing in this country, Kenya
Has become the most difficult thing to do.
I just wonder
Who can bear the pain of doing things right
Who can afford the cost of doing the right thing?

The one who choses not to bribe a police officer
For offences he has not committed
Suffers more than he who extends his hands
And buys himself freedom
“Kijana, ongea vizuri shida ikuondokee”
His charges will be altered
His days will be wasted
He will be required to admit an error he didn’t commit
And if he remains truthful he suffers some much more

An SME lady seeking to get her business licensed
Will meet a list of unamountable demands for her food joint
“Hauna running water na drainage hapa ni mbaya”
It would have been cheaper to compromise the officer
Than to take the highway of doing things right
And consume most of her meager capital

A child following her dream will easily be criticized
By her teaching parents than he who follows money
“Dad I wanna be a poet”
“Ushawahi ona poet billionaire?”
It would be easier for her to go do Med for her dad
Then later pay a bigger cost to keep her dream alive

A young man will meet a girl and honor her proper
Instead of taking the matters in his own hands
He chooses to honor the parents and the community
But the harassment and the scorn he will meet
I wonder if he can bear it all
All he wants is parental blessings
“Leta two million, tank ya maji na debe ya asali”
The one who took a girl, made her pregnant and
Then appears to the community with some children
Will be celebrated for being a hero

The minister of the gospel who speaks the truth
Will be persecuted by the same congregation
He is trying to serve.
It would be easier to lie, exaggerate and manipulate
“Mungu amesema mwaka huu utakuwa millionaire”
And a throng of humanity will flock his church
The truth hurts and hurting people is not welcome
Not in this country

A leader who is genuinely following his call
To make a difference in his community
Will be ignored and dismissed
“Kama hanunui leso simchagui”
It would be easier to rain some fifties
And hundreds to the wasted populace
And when he gets into power
Make their lives even worse

I just wonder
Who can bear the pain of doing things right
Who can afford the cost of doing the right thing?

-Munuhe

Contentment

Google Image

No matter what your station in life,

It can feel like the opposite would be better. 

Singles long for marriage
Married’s long for the freedom of singleness.
Childless couples want kids 
Veteran parents look forward to the empty nest.
Poorer people want more money,
Richer people consider trading down to a modest paycheck.
Those eating roasted meat daily
Long to go green with some kales.
While those on the greens want some meat.
Students long to clear school
And a hustler on the streets wishes he could return to school.
Someone driving longs to walk out of the crazy traffic
And one walking admires those stuck in their automobiles
What can a human do?

No matter what your station in life
Be present in the moment
And learn that contentment,
Contentment is not just living under the sun
Contentment is living under God.

This Potent Matter Within

The potent matter within me

Google Search Image

Puts me in a dilemma
What will it become
Of this yellow mooned fluid
That resides within this shell?

I truly wonder how a chicken does it
What is it in a chicken
That know the right egg
What is it in a chicken
That knows the right temperature
What is it in the heat that the chicken produces
That hatches the eggs and does not cook it?

Coz this yellow mooned fluid within me
This potent york
Drives me to crossroads
And I wonder and wonder and wonder
What will it become?

Will this egg cook
Will this egg hatch
Will this egg abort and rot?

This potent matter within me
This yellow mooned fluid
Requires the real kind of heat
The right temperature
Not too hot to cook
Not too luke to abort

This potent matter within me
This yellow mooned fluid
Requires the real kind of a brooder
Patiently waiting as they lay
Fanning the fire over me
Evenly, balanced and consistent
Until new life forms from within

This potent matter within me
This yellow mooned fluid
Requires the spirit of the living God
Brood over this emptiness

Incubate this yellow mooned fluid
And by your grace and by your power
Allow this potent york
To become a healthy chick
And make sure am not a broiler!
Watch over me against my predators
Stay me in you until new eggs I lay

This potent matter within me
This yellow mooned fluid
Must become more eggs.

Dreaded Home

They arrive at life

As though it were their destination.

Settling as if not on a journey

Despising home like the urban folk

Who despise their rurals

Deceived and disillusioned


Life passes by


Then a day comes


And home beckons.


They dread in crippling fear


When before their eyes


Everything fades away


Material things shatter

And things that held them tightly


Fall apart and let them loose
.

-Josef Munuhe