When you Were Away

For every night
I was a goner
Your memory kept me alive
The thoughts of your smile
And what we wanted in life

Every night I was a goner
The nights were shortened
By the hope
Of our flames rekindling

Every night I was a goner
Thoughts of you
Kept me sane
Thoughts of you
Made me realize
I just wanted to stay

Every night I was a goner
Staring into the dark
Nights so silent
My only wish
If tomorrow comes
Then you shall
Be by my side
.© La-ki
The tales of a poets deepest secrets
Poetry is eternal

Quotes of the Neeve

Quotes of the Neeve

Our Own Makings

by ndegwabryan

Have you ever felt like the world is eating you up,
Like whenever you take a step for success
you get shot down

Have u ever felt like people just don’t love you anymore
Like whenever you smile at them
they will find a way to stab your back

Have you ever felt alone, locked up with your own emotions,
Like whenever you open your circle of trust,
there will always be something sucking the air out of your circle

Have you ever felt alone in this world,
Like whenever you sit down and look around all you see is nothing but your own image

Have you ever given time to people that don’t care,
Or maybe you gave people that don’t care your time
Or maybe they just never cared about you.

Maybe we are all the same – one way or another –
Maybe the difference between all of us is the way we approach someone
May it be with love or hate
we all wanna be part of somebody’s life

Maybe we all have the same problems but the way we solve them brings a difference
the way we hide them brings different consequences
but all in all we are all the same

We are just playing the same game but we choose our own tactics

Ethnic Hatred; The Slow Poison

By: Our Daily Poetry Family

#ODP_Voices – Week 33

ODPoet: Paul Mes, Kenya.

My children gave me fine wine
Trying to impress me
Each with different taste
Claiming theirs was the best
Fighting to be supreme
Who will wear the crown
Who will have the pride on their chest
Oh how I wish they couldn’t insist
For me to pick a favorite
For now I see the chaos in their eyes
The blood lust,  survival for the fittest
All they want to see is death.

ODPoet: Gonzaga, Kenya.

So, here is a story about children. They all grew up wild and free like the daisies up the hills. They talked about cars and dreamt about houses together. They painted a picture of life without paying too much attention to detail. It was abstract. At the time if they stopped, they would sell the painting for thousands or even millions. They begun lessons from daddy and mommy. That life is not a vague image. That they had to start looking at what was close to them. The eyes of each other.

ODPoet: ☆Gael-Reggie, Kenya.

A greed and power driven people
Where did our love and ambition for a greater country go?
To better our land now a forgotten goal
A goal that had been greater than all of us
For all of us
Now we’re focused on ourselves only focused on getting ahead

The perspective of Me and Mine
Thinking only of
‘What’s in it for me
And a people mine?’
We’re focused on what to us is good
Focused not on the greater good
A depth of selfish need
Consumed deeply by greed
A lust greater than wanton pleasure
A power lust, innocent blood spilt for leisure.

TEARS…By Antoh

TEARS

She soaked her pillows like dew in the willows
Her heart burnt with pain fuelled by suffering
She came up the hill to see his sun rise
Was she to see her lover set at 6
O nooo

He spoke like a priest on promotion
He who preached to any denomination
He who never preached for donations
He who chose Jesus on his missions
Maybe he was weak in faith
That he would sink to his death
On eighth was when he ran int his death
Lower he went in depth
He was meeting the Almighty

She wept bitterly
She loved him heartily
She teared into pieces
She lost him while on a mission
She had to be strong
For that was her decision.

©Antoh-Kenya
#tenderMemories
#darkHouse
#sophonismos

Y.O.L.O. (You Only Live Once)

By: Our Daily Poetry Family

#ODP_Voices – Week 23

[This is our story about taking every opportunity that comes our way and exploiting it to the maximum. You only have one lifetime.]

ODPoet: Frida Salama
Country: Kenya

Run towards the wind
Try finding where it comes from
Or try to catch it
Inhale it, see if it can fill your tummy
Impossible it is but its fun
You only live once, celebrate.

Hold drops of rain in the palms
Slide in mud in bare feet
Listen to whispers of trees in rain, talk to them
Then stand up shout and scream your lungs out
Have fun, celebrate
You only live once

ODPoet: Esther Msiska
Country: Malawi

You only live once
Make the best of life
Be happy
And sad
To know all life experiences

Don’t miss out on life
Fall in love
Make love to last you a lifetime
Enjoy the scenery
The nature
People and everything around
Because at the end of the time
You Only Live Once.

ODPoet: Abu Bakr (White)
Country: Nigeria

Life is journey of no return
With scrabbled paths where some end at the point others had just begun
Today, it might be you laying tracks and tomorrow, the stars are what you can avoid to follow
Life is two faced, show to it that you’re the best of your kind to ever liveth
Live every moment of your life to the fullest
Caress and embrace every part of it because failure to do so might cause you beloved grief and sorrow
The golden rule to measure a happy life with is knowing that you only live once
This second, you own everything, the next, they’re all gone
Dreams get crashed, hopes vanish and your whole world feels done
At the end, you get to realise that you only live once.

ODPoet: Precious Maliwa
Country: Malawi

Let your pen write
What your brain thinks
Without fear or favor
Let your mouth sing
The song from your heart unrestrained
Without looking to the right or left
Allow your feet take you to the palace
Where you will not be served with garbage but fried cabbage
Let your soul feed on your kindness and courage
And if you are to love
On this journey
Love every mile you walk
Regardless of a broken smile
For You Only Live Once.

ODPoet: Delroy White
Country: Malawi

Y.O.L.O says so, right?

“You Only Live Once!”, they scream,
Which, in me, stirs a debate
A debate that gets me irate;
Is this acronym a motto or just an excuse?
For if the latter, then we should truly refuse!
Why have an excuse to allow such gross uncouth especially among our youth???

Why not use it to love today?
                      explore today?
                      taste today?
            authenticate today?
                    improve today?
                      BE today???
Why use it to EXTIRPATE today?

Why? Because Y.O.L.O says so right?

ODPoet: Rufus Kerry
Country: Kenya

Let’s party like there’s no tomorrow
Let’s be happy,today we forget all the sorrow
Everyone raise your voice and shout YOLO!

Its true You only live once
Live today,tomorrow you might not get a chance
Dance to every beat,make your body move with its trance
I’m in the mood to lose  control
Cz you only live once after all.

ODpoet: Isaac Praiz
Country: Nigeria

I ONLY LIVE ONCE (I.O.L.O)

Life is twin
The front yet the back
Time to plant, time to reap
Perfection yet the flaws
The reality we live
Tomorrow, only a mirage we see
The dreams we try to be,
they only may become
Life is one
So live it twice
Cheer in your sorrow
Despise your shame
Laugh at your tears
Pleasure in your pain
Flex every moment
And if they ask you why
Just holla I.O.L.O

ODpoet: MATTHEW (Gods Favourite Stream)
Country: Nigeria

Yielding to the call of life
Oh, my soul leaps for joy
Unutterable eagerness as my ride
                      BUT
Obfuscation is what welcomes me
Nattering with fortune, she says to me
“Love is the secret to live right”
Yoking with love is what I pledged

Life then turns a smiling face at me
Indeed, life is meant for merriment!
Vacation from heaven’s cottage
Enjoyment galore is my experience

Oh friends, lets dance to the melody of life, but a
Nasty feeling overrides our path
Coldness governs my body and soul, and my
Eyes open to a place unknown…

My soul groans for another ride
But a voice whispers from the
Chariot of zephyr, saying
“You Only Live Once”

ODPoet: Lisa Banda
Country: Malawi

Go new places,meet new faces.
Love till u got no more love to give,
Laugh loud till your tummy aches,
Be happy and in any storm,just breathe!
Be kind,don’t judge,don’t hold a grudge!
Grab every opportunity and seize it.

There is only one you,be the best you possibly can!
And after each day, never go to bed with regrets,
Wishing you’d done something that you didn’t!
Do all you can while you still can,
as long as it pleases God!
You only live once on planet earth!make the most of it!

ODPoet: Joy Munde
Country: Kenya

IT’S MY LIFE

Today was once a tomorrow,
And will soon be a yesterday,
And there are no days,only moments
But still I will be myself
I will give us joy and give us pain
I may hurt your soul while loving your soul
And still weep and laugh,
But in all I will live my humanness
I will live it all now…
It is my life

All that was and all that is
And all that will be and never be
I will still remain the me I am
At this point I give a shout to all,
That a fresh breeze whooshes past
A new surge of energy flow deep in my veins
Yes
I’m all up for self-love
Laugh more,laughed less
Hurt more,be hurt more
Love less,loved more
But live more…
I will live more…
As you only live once…
I only live once.

©Joy🌹

ODP™ Forever.

BLEEDING OUT!!!

By: Our Daily Poetry Family – Group Three

#ODP_Voices – Week 21

[They say the pain of a heartbreak is the worst., the kind so incomparable to opening a vein in your system. But what’s more painful is saying goodbye to the world you’ve always known; as you watch. Bleeding out to your weakest point. ODP once more tells a tale of a dying man in the hands of terrorists.]

Conducted & Compiled by Phill Ibsen, Kenya.

ODPoet: Cyburg
Country: Kenya

As I lay here on this tarmac,
as the boot stands witness,
to the owners unfair brutal attack,
all in the name of alshabab,
my soul leaves my body in distress,
sure to haunt their dreamland,
till the day their dying ear hears,
the angels Ballard serenading them to hell.

ODPoet: Phill Ibsen
Country: Kenya

If I die before I heal,
My words do feel,
I feel devastated,
Like a foe hated,
Beneath the boots there are blows,
Reminiscing of my younger years,
Letting go my old fears,
As I sink in captivity,
Waking up seems like an impossibility,
As I lie if I don’t wake,
My memories don’t take.

ODPoet: Joy Wainaina
Country: Kenya

Before am gone
Am sorry mama
I didn’t say I love you enough
Shay babe be strong
If only for our kids
Dylan my son
Take care of our family
Ashley my daughter
I love you.

ODPoet: Phillip Odhiambo
Country: Kenya

The rage boiling beneath,
Superfluously tearing me apart,
Tornado of pain,
Destroying me,
Weakening me,
Rain of tears clouding my eyes,
Thunder of blows breaking my dam,
Roars so loud,
As I bleed out.

ODPoet: Odhiambo Amada
Country: Kenya

Desperately, I cling on to dear life,
They spit at me, muttering unprintable curses at me,
my grip weakens,
unfulfilled
another victim of these vicious unrelenting savages,
will I be the last through this macabre,
Rigor mortis, the time lag runs out,
hazy,bleak, then suddenly,vanity

ODPoet: Isaac Praiz
Country: Nigeria

Blacking out of reality
As their blows fade out my identity
Feeling my gentle soul ebb
and my heart skip
As when Cyndi told me we couldn’t be
Though incomparable
Cos’ dumb I lay
Wishing this breath I take could last one more day
Fresh out of blood
Now ready for my ghostly spree.

ODPoet: Jante Joy
Country: Kenya

Yet there I lay
Coiled in a degratory manner
Neither befitting my old age nor manhood
My warm blood caressing the cold unfeeling ground
Slowly but steadily flowing
A picture of grime ingrained in it.

ODP™ Forever.

Dark Valentines

By: Our Daily Poetry Family – Group Two

#ODP_Voices – Week 21

[Love is sweet when you feel it in you and its sweetest when the one you love loves you with all they got. Love makes our days shine bright despite the weather at hand. But…love lost gives rise to a new feeling, perception and energy…Dark Valentine’s represents the side of lost love.]

Conducted & Compiled by Joy Munde, Kenya.

ODPoet: HP Kaleem.
Country: India

I LOST YOU TOO

As you came, you left me  too,
Had  only one heart,you  took it too,

Your eyes made me to love,
Gave tears to my eyes too,
I am destined to cry alone,
And drink pain in the crowd too,
Now nothing is left for me  in the world,
You were alone in the world,
I lost you too.

———————————-
ODPoet: Joy Munde
Country: Kenya

YET TO COME

Guess its that time of the year
Where my heart and mind goes to when you had my ear
The time when you would call and I would say “yes dear”
The times we would walk or run as free as the deer
Yes…it is that time.

The memories of our past I still hold on to
Not because I miss us but just to remind you
Of every broken promise you said to my face
Of every tear I shed but that was  just a phase
And tell you of all that is yet to come.

Like a shadow my form shall always befall you
In her eyes be sure to see my face
In her smile do take note of the twitch I had
In her embrace be careful not to say my name
And maybe then shall you know of your atrocities
And maybe will have no more to hold on to.

——————————

ODPoet: Kip Nic
Country: Kenya

The day I have been waiting all my life,
Finally started with a bright light
Valentines day,
Lovers day.

A day of love,gifts, surprises and anything pertaining love and lovers
So I woke up with all my strength to go for my surprise.
As i took her surprise too
I met her as agreed looking awesome with a brighter smile than ever,I made her close her eyes,
Quickly do the necessary and now wait for my turn.

My turn came and was asked to have my eyes wide open
My heart beat faster,This was unusual.
Finaly my surprise arrived and…
I was really surprised when she introduced me to her HUSBAND.

I sat at the middle of the road
I watched them drive off
Her surprise which I had invested on all my days..New red Japan made scouter…

———————————-

ODPoet: Morton Bonanza
Country: Malawi

In my hand a red rose
With joy in heart,
Ready to meet queen, Violet.
For a day long waited
Once a year
But 10 am as time proposed
Time grew  wings
Flying to 12 pm
No sign of her

“Love is magical”
Picking up my phone so quick
As the ring tone was on its pick
Alas! Alarm it was
Throwing my eyes to every corner
Only to see two birds flying
No doubt they were in love
While I was all alone
And the wind precipitated my loneliness
As it touched my body so cold
Whom shall I hold?
2 pm, roses totally tarnished
Its face succumbing voice of sun
I can’t give this?
Then anger rose!
Destroying the Rose
Love evaporating
Maybe it wasn’t my luck?
Or the Valentine gone dark?
With galore questions!
A whats app call
” Sorry dear,am breaking up its over”

———————————-
ODPoet: Effie Lara
Country: Kenya

He had called a week ago
And asked me to be his Valentine
I can’t remember what I said
But I’m pretty sure I gave him a chance
Everyday I felt beautiful
And everything I touched;
It felt red.

The day was inevitable
I had dressed to take their breath
Fears and tears took flight
Gloomy face and shrill voice found no space
Because it felt red.

Time passed so fast
Without favouring anyone
Despite being lover’s day
It’s noon!But no sign at all
No call,no text message
I was a broken hearted girl when I called
My guy had been to the Intensive Care Unit
After a fatal accident
But still,I call it red.

Silent hours and a cold day
That no voice found a way
Seemed so dark that even no one could ever find any light.

My mom was beside me
In a medicine scented room
Said I had collapsed a week ago.
I imagined I saw Leon’s smiling face
But this was an illusion
I was all red, my cladding spelt out red
But to him his clothes had been smeared red
He bled
And now he was fighting for his life
I realized red can mean life or love.

———————————-
ODPoet: Karym Yassin
Country: Tanzania

DARK VALENTINE

I have a girl with soft lips
Its too hard to write this piece..
My heart wants peace..
Because to her I cant dodge even if i had master keys..

It was the love month when she give me a call..
Telling me we may separate but too awful i know”
I waited a bit, for her to repeat
But she wasted her phone down, not wanting to spit.

I did not know which place to go
I remained staring like a tombolo
My valentine girl had finished me
Now am faded in love
Just like the end rally.

Butt she forgot about the house and she forget about the ring..
I remember everything..
I just taught her how to sing..
I remember the love right after the fight..
But I don’t know why she did not remember those nights.

Please my mom asked about you
My friends did too…
I know your new boy will be amazed to have u..
Still I suffer why you met me..
But I wish you never forget me.

Always to you I will remain your master..
But to me you are the abracadabra magic dancer..
My mom asked “can i call a doctor?”
No! I do not need a doctor…
I just want to let her to know am the doctrine..

Its the love month which I want to retreat..
Its a dark valentine and my heart has split..
I want someone to say “kary kary” as she called..
There is a black love until am faded.

———————————-
ODPoet: Charlotte Akello
Country: Uganda

The Valentine Frenzy

All alone
My day is moody
I try to take a walk
I pass by my favourite bar
Maybe i will meet him there
For some reason
I had hope…
There he was
All well dressed in red and black
Seated by the corner as he always did
As i walked towards him
I noticed a lad y
Seated by his side
The one he always adored
I had to walk away
I wasn’t his…

———————————-
ODPoet: Collins
Country: Kenya

Like a passing gust of wind
You passed me by left me high
Valentines,the day love comes
Changed into sorrow,mourning
Side by side, walking along the road
Suddenly lights, screeching of brakes
Your lifeless body lay there
Eyes open, pleading, begging
This love we shared
Even unto death, you carried
Darkest of days, dark valentines..

———————————-

ODP™ Forever.