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33 items tagged "All"

• August 06, 2009
• 8:01

  Thank you

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  Due to distractions of all sorts, I have unfortunately ignored this blog. I have been reading and enjoying recent comments left by kind readers nonetheless and wish to apologise for not responding to these. Thank you… Sokari Donald Kihuga Gayuganda love your poem Nakeel Gish Sarah Ntyatyi Jara Mandi Stephen Bess  Retweet This Post
• July 02, 2009
• 10:35

  Long before

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  The resolve in my heart was…..has been steadfast……. Forged in time ……..long before i laid eyes on you…… Long before our first walk together….long before the words escaped my lips….. If you wonder why i look at you with childish abandon…… Why i do not get upset…… My eyes had seen all the wrong that would come……. Still the resolve to see [...]
• June 28, 2009
• 14:23

  7 hours in Twitterland

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  About 6 hours ago in reply to mamajunkyard Trying to be as cool as Jean-Luc Picard About 5 hours ago from txt Twitted…but followers perplexed About 4 hours ago from TweetDeck Gotta stop twitting without spellcheck About 3 hours ago in reply to blacklooks Twitted but really outta be on school books About 2 hours ago from the web The twitting verve never seems [...]
• May 31, 2009
• 10:34

  Twitter

   » ‎ Mshairi

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   Retweet This Post
• April 01, 2009
• 1:46

  Haiku

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  The nights lengthens Sleep disappears; eyes stay open  Retweet This Post
• March 31, 2009
• 5:00

  If they asked…

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  If they asked He would tell them why he allows love to pass him by. He would not dissemble but would tell it like it is. He would tell them the consequence of love’s young dream is nothing but a brimful of broken dreams He would tell them about the crushing of hope, the falling off from pedestals. He would say the triumph of love is not exultation but corroding of the heart. He [...]
• March 25, 2009
• 11:54

  Unforgettable: Chan Chan - Buena Vista Social Club

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  This song from the Buena Vista Social Club was released in 1997. It was delightful then and still thrilling now. The members of the Club may be slowly disappearing but they leave behind indelible cosmic footprints. Bliss.
• March 24, 2009
• 4:17

  Wishes for our beloved

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  If I could write a poem I would write about you I would say your heart is like a flower That blooms in a desolate wasteland Beautiful and natural To bring joy and never-ending bliss If I could sing a song I would sing about you Amazing and extraordinary I would sing of love Enduring and intense Sparkling eyes and selfless acts If I could paint [...]
• March 23, 2009
• 6:36

  For Wanjiru.

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  We laugh but the smile never touches our hearts. We can look you in the eye but the lids quiver at random acts of kindness. Our words are two-edged; what we are saying and what we should be saying. And when we dance, our arms outstretched, directed at the sky, we are supplicating for compassion, for our splendid one be returned to us.
• March 22, 2009
• 6:02

  The Contemptible Lout.

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  He weaves and ducks Scattering misery and malice A little here A little there Shamelessly two-faced Brashly insincere In his wretched meanderings His heart will never inspire Neither feel nor know love Where his soul should be An abscess resides
• March 20, 2009
• 7:41

  The Jazz Century Exhibition

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  This exhibition is currently taking place at the Musée Quai Branly in Paris and covers magazines, letters, cartoons, photographs, paintings and others types of expression. The exhibition features some of the most revered names of jazz, among them, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. Some of the paintings and photographs as featured here [...]
• March 19, 2009
• 3:05

  The poet did not lie

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  At the awareness of duplicity Beneath you the earth moves Above you the sky tilts Now you comprehend This wound will be deep This wound will fester Now you understand The poet did not lie It is your heart that lied
• March 08, 2009
• 8:42

  Celebrating International Women’s Day, 2009

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  On the face it, my focus for this year’s International Women’s Day, unlike the focus here, here and here may appear disordered and quite random when it actually isn’t. This year I celebrate a short and disparate list of women who have faced enormous challenges. Shirely Ann Jackson is a physicist who received her PhD [...]
• March 06, 2009
• 7:34

  1 in 10 Campaign

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  ‘Each year, around 1 in 10 women in Britain experience rape or other violence. One in four local authorities leave female victims of violence without the specialised support they need’. Ethnic minority women are especially badly affected. This is the shocking message for International Women’s Day for Amnesty International UK’s campaign on violence against women. If [...]
• February 22, 2009
• 16:45

  Pigeons…

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  …are not like other birds, sensible and sane One I met the other day had an especially small brain It did not fly away when I moved towards it And looked at me head-on like I was quite the dimwit I demand my piece of ground, get out of the way Get lost before I do some damage, it seemed [...]
• February 12, 2009
• 8:02

  Mshairi’s week of love: 6

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  Lessons I have learned to welcome love with symbolic sacrifice and offerings of gratitude to honour love’s vagaries in the bleak solitude of night and to rejoice at love’s triumph in the tranquillity of daybreak most of all I have learned to cherish the wrench of the unseen silken thread that links your heart to mine
• February 11, 2009
• 8:44

  Mshairi’s week of love: 5

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  A hot Sunday afternoon by the Indian Ocean as sleek sinews writhe salty sweat streaks gleaming coffee-coloured skin warm breezes sway tall palm trees setting off the whisper-whisper rhythm and blind fingers grasp while mouths open waves undulate inwards finally touching the shoreline each swell greater than the last
• February 10, 2009
• 3:36

  Mshairi’s week of love: 4

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  Like a flower Like a flower His mind unfurls At the thought of her Unbidden Unwelcome Reminiscences tumble through His unguarded mind His soul Words unspoken Deeds undone His world unravelled Too late He struggles To halt the tide Powerless Memories overwhelm him Pushing him to the edge He cries out None to hear him See his pain He is alone Empty And Incomplete
• February 09, 2009
• 9:30

  Mshairi’s week of love: 3

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  Silence

  She sits there where she can see your eyes
  Fill with faithless tears
  She sits close to hear your hushed voice
  Murmur words of sweetness and love to another
  Desiccated lips stricken in silence
  She says nothing
  A smouldering flame spreads beneath her skin
  A feverish ague shakes her body
  She says nothing
  Teardrops sting her eyes
  She sees nothing
  Her soul clenched in sadness
  Her spirit broken
  She feels nothing
  In her ears a deafening roar yet
  She hears nothing but
  The thousand chimes
  Of a rupturing heart

  And still she says nothing

• February 08, 2009
• 6:15

  Mshairi’s week of love: 2

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  Love song

  Love is like rain gracefully and softly
  Falling
  On the arid landscape where the secret
  Torments of our souls dwell

  Soothing
  Purifying
  Reviving
  Washing

  Away our sorrows and pain
  Leaving us refreshed

  Love is like a cool breeze lightly and gently

  Fanning

  The sultry sweltering terrain where our broken and
  Anguished spirits reside

  Cooling
  Calming
  Consoling

  Allowing us to breathe
  And our poor
  Foolish
  Hearts to sing and to
  Love
  Anew

• February 06, 2009
• 4:50

  God on a bus

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  In the beginning, there were a whole lot of words, a fundraising campaign and this was paid for.

  

  Then there were a whole lot of other words, another campaign and now ads for the Christian Party stating this:

  

  The man on the first image is Prof. Richard Dawkins; part genius, part irritant and the UK’s most famous and most vocal atheist. I once saw this documentary where he was confronting people who believed in God and came away with a niggling feeling that in his heart of hearts, Richard Dawkins would rather you deified him rather than believe in other deities. He was so completely up his own arse there was little difference between him and that Jehovah’s Witness person who comes knocking on your door asking whether you want to know the TRUTH and pleading with you to buy copies of the Watchtower.

  I wish they would just get over themselves. The money raised for the adverts (£140,000 and counting by the atheists) should go/should have gone to charity. The people who have faith will more or less continue to have faith while atheists will not be convinced that there is a God.

  This has now become like that Bugs Bunny cartoon with Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck:

  Bugs Bunny: “Duck season!”
  Daffy Duck: “Wabbit season!”
  Bugs Bunny: “Duck season!”
  Daffy Duck: “Wabbit season!”
  Bugs Bunny: “Duck season!!”
  Daffy Duck: “Wabbit season!!”

  Although come to think of it, Bugs Bunny reverses the flow somewhere along that conversation, Daffy Duck ends up shouting “Duck season” and then Elmer Fudd goes after him with his gun.

  My sister Mama C also once told me a story about two people on a train having an argument and nearly coming to blows about whether the window should be open or shut until they realised that due to the fact they were in a 3rd class cabin on the Nairobi to Mombasa train, the window did not in fact have a pane.

  p.s. I love the word ‘probably’ in the atheists’ ad as it rather works to cover all bases. Just in case, you see.

• February 05, 2009
• 10:22

  Sometime Wishes

   » ‎ Mshairi

  Tags:  All  

  on the bus and train
  i wish sometimes
  a flick of my finger
  an invisible switch &
  silence from cell phone
  noisy numpty disturbing the peace
  & us

  / i wish sometimes /

  from my seat
  a flying leap
  a triumphant haii!
  a well-aimed ninja kick to the head &
  ear clamped to phone &
  wham!

  / sometimes i wish /

• August 18, 2008
• 7:55

  …where did the love go?

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  Once…
  it was all there
  in the timbre of his voice
  when he spoke her name
  the softness of his lips
  as he kissed her brow
  the gentleness of his fingers
  when he held her hand
  it was in the radiance of his smile
  when he saw her face
  the look in his eyes
  while gazing at her
  the warmth of his embrace
  as he held her close

  he laughs it off
  says she jests
  in her heart she knows
  where once was love
  only ashes remain

  Re-posted for D.M.

• August 15, 2008
• 6:56

  If only we had known…

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  The first time it happened
  She wore dark glasses, wept all day
  Hormones, we sniggered

  The second time it happened
  Walked into a wall she said
  Alcohol, we smugly declared
  Signed her cast, wished her well

  The third time it happened
  Fell down the stairs she said
  And wouldn’t smile
  Lover’s tiff, we winked

  The fourth time it happened
  A bee stung her she said
  Frolicking in the park, we laughed

  The fifth time it happened
  She didn’t come in
  We heard she was broken
  Like a toy
  Which no-one could
  Ever
  Put back together again

  If only
  We had known
  We cried

  Re-posted for D.M.

• August 11, 2008
• 6:32

  RIP Isaac Hayes

   » ‎ Mshairi

  Tags:  All  

  I love the way some of his songs are prefixed by rap-like storytelling. Listening to ‘I Stand Accused’, approximately 10 minutes long, always makes me smile. The pathos!

  ‘By the time I get to Phoenix’ is also long. Approximately, 18 minutes long.

  Although very similar, Isaac Hayes’s voice is not as rich and as expressive as Barry White’s. When exploring his discography however, it is clear to see that his music is very influential.

  Isaac Hayes IS a soul music icon.

  R.I.P.

• May 29, 2008
• 3:05

  Ankle beads…

   » ‎ Mshairi

  Tags:  All  

  In darkness
  he sits
  and waits
  silently
  she glides through the open door
  the tinny tinkle
  of the silver bells
  on her ankle beads &
  the staccato beat
  of his heart
  serenading
  her arrival

  ShareThis

• March 22, 2008
• 5:21

  Coming soon – The International Carnival of Pozitivities (2.10)

   » ‎ Mshairi

  Tags:  All  

  I am extremely pleased to announce that the next International Carnival of Pozitivities will be taking place on this blog in April. The International Carnival of Pozitivities is a blog carnival for people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. This includes every human being on the planet Earth. The aim of this initiative is to [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Coming soon – The International Carnival of Pozitivities (2.10)", url: "http://www.mshairi.com/blog/?p=444" });
• March 21, 2008
• 9:12

  Golly! No more lashings of ginger beer

   » ‎ Mshairi

  Tags:  All  

  I learned two things upon arriving in the UK many moons ago. First, the name Enid was pronounced ‘EEnid’ and not ‘EHnid’ as I had been pronouncing it ever since I begun reading Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books. The other was that ginger beer, always a mystery to my young mind, i.e. how could children [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Golly! No more lashings of ginger beer", url: "http://www.mshairi.com/blog/?p=443" });
• March 13, 2008
• 6:19

  Put it out

   » ‎ Mshairi

  Tags:  All  

  Yesterday was No Smoking Day here in the UK. I am ecstatic this year as I don’t have to have to go through the unending cycle of convincing myself that I need to quit only to see the day come and go with me still smoking. Oh the guilt and the denial. This cycle went on [...]
• March 10, 2008
• 17:29

  Nice one, Chiwetel

   » ‎ Mshairi

  Tags:  All  

  Stand aside Patrick ‘Jon-Luc’ Stewart and Sir Ian ‘Gandalf’ McKellen and bow to the new king of theatre, Chiwetel Ejiofor, who last night won the Laurence Olivier award for best actor. Chiwetel has been excellent in everything I have seen him in and especially in Children of Men - my favourite film of 2007. Truth [...]
• March 09, 2008
• 5:19

  The Boatman

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  A scholar asked a boatman to row him across the river The journey being long the scholar begun to blather “Mr. Boatman,” he called out, “Let’s have a conversation.” Self-serving and pompous he asked in eager anticipation “Eh, Mr. Boatman, ever read poetry or erudite epics Or sat down to study grammar and learn phonetics” “No, I never did [...]
• February 21, 2008
• 5:57

  Using the C-word

   » ‎ Mshairi

  Tags:  All  

  It has been interesting to read the controversy regarding Jane Fonda’s recent use of the C-Word on telly in America while discussing the V Monologues with the author, Eve Ensler. My late grandfather regularly insulted us - his granddaughters - using the Gikuyu translation of the word. The Gikuyu version sounds 10008 million times worse [...]
• February 20, 2008
• 6:53

  Belated anti-Valentine’s Day poem

   » ‎ Mshairi

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  Moved on Did you think I would languish Heartsick and broken When you said it was all over You needed to move on Did you think I would bore my friends With tales of you On the telephone all the time When you said I was cramping your style Holding you back Did you think I would curl up and die Listen to Billie Holliday All day [...]