A Grocery Tree

February sun--

I stop to admire this

grocery tree

grocery tree--

patches of sun hit on big

reddish mangoes

This grocery tree is in Buru Buru, in Nairobi.

 

February walk--

an African hero smiles

to passersby 

 

 

two dear things--

her younger sister and her

juicy mango

wheelbarrow stand--

 price tags sandwiched between

mangoes

Voi Collection

 early morning--

a fresh ant-hill on their

dusty compound

 Sagala hill--

two women walk closely

on a dusty road

 Makongeni--

dusty paths separate the

sisal plantation

* Makonge is a Swahili word for a sisal plant. Makongeni is a place where sisal is planted, mostly on a large scale.

Makongeni is few Kilometers from Voi town. we climbed on a hill and we could see the whole of Voi town including the sisal Plantation

 February morning--

I climb a fallen tree

for a photo

exhausted--

I balance on a dusty bench

for a nap

Voi at dawn--

snowy hill-tops brighten

us up

 

Voi dawn--

he sleeps on a dusty

shopkeeper's bench

The Art of Graffiti

graffiti--
he steps from a dusty stand
for a far view

 

my schoolmate(with yellow jersey) and his friends

graffiti--
they step on the dusty stand
for a photo pose

  

hip hop--

dust particles on the fast-drying

                                                                         graffiti

 

 

Jeevenjee Gardens

Jeevanjee Gardens--

four Jacaranda blossoms

share a concrete seat

Trumpet Plant in Blossom

 

January showers--

drops collect on a trumpet

blossom

Mfara/Mfiringo

Children enjoy their evening by playing with marbles after riding Mfara...

Lesson one is out !

Dear all,

Thanks to Isabelle sensei and Gabi sensei. Complete lesson one is out! Have a look at it here: 

http://kenyasaijiki.blogspot.com/2010/05/haiku-lesson-one.html

I am so happy right now...

September sun

DSC00324, originally uploaded by WODHES.

Having fun with haiku...

Shiki kukai results; My Best Performance So Far

As an active member of Kenyasaijiki, I get to participate in the monthly Shiki kukai every month. This competition involves haijin from different parts of the world and these are my best performance so far...

    

 http://www.haikuworld.org/kukai/archive.aug2008.html

                  More coming soon

Haiku with fun

 

Caleb David Mutua, originally uploaded by prondis_in_kenya.

Isabelle sensei took this photo while at a meeting discussing haiku back in 2009!

Thank you Isabelle sensei for reminding me the fun we had that sunny day :-)

  

HAIKU LESSON: KIREJI

Perhaphs you have been wondering what kireji is and its importance in haiku...wonder no more because these questions and many more are answered here

                            http://kenyasaijiki.blogspot.com/2010/05/haiku-lesson-three.html

I initially prepared these lessons to discuss with secondary school haijin on different topics on haiku, thanks to Kenyasaijiki moderators Isabelle sensei and Gabi sensei who decided to collect them for future references! I was very excited and at the same time encouraged...

Lesson one is to be added soon....keep visiting dear :-)

Swahili haiku article in Wikipedia

Towards the end of 2009, Wikipedia search engine gave college students an opportunity to write and submit articles for Wikipedia Swahili version. The participants were required to write on any topic provided they did not repeat what others had already written...I wrote an article on HAIKU in Kiswahili below:

  http://sw.wikipedia.org/haiku

I have not included any haiku in Swahili language in that article to demonstrate on some points. I welcome any suggestions or examples of Swahili haiku. 

Thanks... 

HAIKU LESSONS

http://kenyasaijiki.blogspot.com/2010/05/haiku-lesson-two.html


More lessons coming soon!!
Keep visiting me...

Thirteenth collection

misty saturday

misty Saturday--
my Sunday-best dripping
in the moonlight

school holiday

school holiday--
a group of bare-footed kids
headed to the pitch

August holiday

August holiday--
peeping at their trapped ball
through a gate seam

giving up the search

giving up the search
he goes home with one slipper--
August dust

school holiday

school holiday--
with heavy bags and smiling kids
they travel upcountry

Ramadan morning

Ramadan morning--
her shadow darkens with
the rising sun

street soccer

street soccer--
a whistling spectator
interrupts the game

census in the city

census in the city--
'the goats I have' question
makes me smile

census day

census day--
enumarators mill about
in August dusk

power rationing

power rationing--
charred spots beside
the candle stick

The Twelveth Collection

cold July morning

cold July morning--
dew drops on empty jerrycans
still in the line

a somnolent night

a somnolent night--
kamba beats from a night pub
soothe me to bed

*Kamba is my tribe and one of the 42 plus tribes in Kenya

a leaf swirls from a

a leaf swirls from a
moribund huneysuckle--
dry August

dry August

dry august--
water seeps into my black
jerrycan at last

water shortage

water shortage--
myriad colours of jerrycans
at the slum borehole

at the borehole

at the borehole--
a young donkey bends under
the weight of water

starless night

starless August night--
two electric blues from the
working welders

power rationing

power rationing--
kids applaud the return
of electricity

closed slum borehole

closed slum borehole--
maudlin drunkard with an
empty jerrycan

August night

August night--
a pale shadow of a man
as the moon appears

The Eleventh Collection

long day

long day--
dozing workers in a
noisy matatu

two for two

two for two--
the white little flowers of
dawny jasmine

July cold

July cold--
handkerchief hawkers at
very market gate

cold morning

cold morning--
two gardeners chat pruning
the pink splendens

a subdued class

a subdued class--
I feel uneasy to blow
my nose

late night chores

late night chores--
another light in the next
flat goes off

cold July night

cold July night--
my brother sipping tea
under the blanket

July night

July night--
the sound of sprinklers on the
deserted school lawns

water shortage

water shortage--
the jerrycan's slow move towards
the dripping tap

windy August night

windy August night--
wet shoes on the mabati
roof rumbles

*Mabati is a Swahili word for Iron Sheets which are mostly used in the construction of houses in Kenya, especially in the outskirts of Nairobi, the capital city.

The Tenth Collection

June cold

June cold--

dying candles beside the

condolence book

cool breeze

cool breeze--

a dangling flowers planted

in a bulb

trumpet plant

trumpet plant--

the first buds appearing

in june

lunch break

lunch break--

I find myself counting rings

on the royal palm

lost icon

lost icon--

she counts Jackson's hit songs

with her fingers

June morning

June morning--

cold seats on the front

remain empty

a cold night

a cold night--

the crescent moon moves

with me

sudden drizzle

sudden drizzle--

friends on my chat list

disappear

industrial area

industrial area--

workers shoot the breeze

outside the gates

nursing

nursing 

a headless doll--

end of holidays

The Ninth Collection

old ruler


old ruler--
disappearing graduation
marks


smell of wood


smell of wood--
the up and down of
the saw


late sun


late sun--
first year students bask on the
fire point lawn


a dry puddle

a dry puddle--
sun-baked mud on the
stepping stones


cold june


cold june--
the leaves of golden wattle
turn pinkish


confederations--
gasps from a neighbor confirm
the goal kick


chilly morning


chilly morning--
I rub my palms after
the handshake

The Eighth Collection

stepping stones

stepping stones--
he uses his walking stick
to confirm


a peep

a peep
at the empty clothe lines--
rain drops patter

a drizzling ride

a drizzling ride--
the old matatu window
not moving

long rains

long rains--
children play catching
the icicle

June rain

June rain--
the avocado tree
still dripping

gathering rain

gathering rain--
the distance between the
stepping stones

drizzling noon

drizzling noon--
the concrete lawn
seats glisten

The Seventh Collection

sun slashes
sun slashes
through the leaves of passion--
Easter morning
gathering rain

gathering rain--
more drops hit the cool
puddle surface
Easter holiday

Easter holiday--
downpour swallows the
drunkard´s tunes
Easter sunday

Easter sunday--
fidgets of the extended
church service
drizzling

drizzling--
clung lovers undo their
umbrella
patchy drops

patchy drops--
i shift my feet under
the mango
sunset strip

sunset strip--
pedestrians hurl as
mud splash

gullies
gullies--
his paper boat sinks after
a while
April holiday

April holiday--
rusty chains on the school
gate
everning

evening
walk on the grassy compound--
a clover thrives

The Sixth Collection

palm sunday

palm sunday--
catholic's usher control
the traffic

rain drops--

rain drops--
a kid widens his mouth
to catch some

rainstorm--

rainstorm--
the bright glow of paraffin
lamp dims
splattering rain--
splattering rain--
i bury my head under a
doll pillow
muddy path--

muddy path--
the deep footprints of
a sheep
gathering rain--

gathering rain--
trotting he finally breaks
into a run
april downpour--

april downpour--
a broken branch of a
sprouting kale leave
stepping on the

stepping on the
few protuberant stones--
a flooded road
moonlit night--

moonlit night--
sampling keys on the
puddled doormat
april downpour--

april downpour--
not aware of dark clouds
until the cold drop

The Fifth Collection

a cold night

a cold night--
stuffing the gap between
the walls and the roof

long day

long day--
my caricature shadow on
the water dances

withering wind

withering wind--
she keeps adding peggs on
her wet clothes

christmas shopping

christmas shopping--
a pregnant woman weighs
the vendor's hen

august mist

august mist--
his dark hair turns whitish
waiting for a bus

school holidays

school holidays--
another spider caged
in a milk bottle

market day

market day--
vendors freshen their mangoes
with jets of water

green avocados

green avocados--
she squeezes them gently
for a ripe one

lunch break

lunch break--
we meet under the
mango tree

teacher's strike

teacher's strike--
excited students jabbering
before cameras