VoicesNet.com Recent Poems of Ben Omondi Otieno - Copyright for all poems displayed belong to author

Amour sans frontiers (ASF) by Ben Omondi Otieno

9/4/2007

Hived so far away
Across insecure borders
Over hills and valleys
Across the thirsty deserts
But still I try my way
Anyway possible
Within the confines of the bushes
To send you a hearty line
Though we are so apart
And this poem would do
To tell you I think of you
And I love you too...

Love sways by Ben Omondi Otieno

9/26/2007

When grey clouds fill the sky
And the tides are so high
Oh! Damsel don’t cry
Don’t bid me bye! Bye!

When the sea is so calm
And the sunshine so warm
Let’s join in the mood
Come on make me feel good

Remember I vowed to be with you always
Like the trees in their sways
You are my wind to follow
Caress me in your gentle blow

The Red Horse by Ben Omondi Otieno

9/25/2007

And so I ride the dreaded red horse
That gently gallops towards the stratus clouds
Over the lightening infested mountains
Trying to fly the skies
Seeking new horizons beyond the invisible
Like angels and goddesses of yore
I seek the holy conference of saints
I am a soul seeking succor in its sojourn

And so I bid thee farewell
And I bid thee good tidings
As I depart to horizons beyond
With my humbled heart...
With my laboured and ailed body
Let the wisdoms of my mentored mind
And lessons from my victimized vile virility
Educate your temperament and guide your decisions.

Foes my friends by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/6/2007

I’m filled
With passionate hate
For you, my dear friends
You that swallowed
Your wrapped hearts
Not sharing
Not a bit
With I your friend

Now you mean foes
Are mine at heart
Good friends
For you vomit
Your bitter naked hearts
And let me lick the gall
To the last drop
And that you did
Passionately

Don't strain the twine by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/6/2007

I wouldn’t want to really know
If your thighs are foes
So please just let the veils stay on
Because my heart is weak
In its nakedness
I considered cutting the tether
But the ropes were tough like steel cables
Confining my options to the solemn plea
“Please don’t strain the twine”

RACE FOR GRACE by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

Dream like you will live forever
But live like it’s now or never
For as long as the game is in the jungle
The lion will always win the wrangle
Fight for your rightful place
Push your breast forth to win the race
For it is not a race for the swiftest
But the fittest of the wittiest
The fight is not of big fists
But where the fist hits
For even though life is a rat race
Its greatest legacy is to die with grace

Stranger in the mirror by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

I stood in front of the mirror
Watching him watching me
So I decided to draw much nearer
To see who he could really be
But he also came close
Till my nose toughed his nose
And when I stepped back
The mirror had a crack

I asked him who he could be
But he didn’t answer
Yes! I could obviously see
He wasn’t me any lesser
But on his face a smile he wore
Yet my heart was sad and sore
His eyes were graceful and bright
Yet I fought back tears of plight

So I stared at him well enough
Wanting to know who he was beneath
But just as misleading as his feigned laugh
That only reveals a parade of white teeth
He wore himself inside out
And left me in self doubt
All I could demystify of him
Was that he was in the game

Freedom Cry by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

The river wanders free
Birds from tree to tree
More whispers, less song
Oh freedom! Hear our cries!
Our expectant petitions
Echoing across the harsh desert

We came, we fought, and we bled
Millions lied, were lied to
We cried, were fried in our own lies
Many have unjustly died
We could shed rivers of tears
Or eat each other alive in vengeance
Not a single soul trusts another anymore
As more lies come with the winds
We are paranoid and traumatized

We swam across each other’s blood
To reach this bank we stand on now
Their splish was paid for by our splash
To counter the cruel saints and holy devils
Whose gentleness and silence
Were too painful and loud
For us to bear nor hear

They split our tongues
Like that of a Cobra
Now we speak in division
As we slumber on sleepless pillows
We are trapped in a chainless bondage
Fate glares with its grotesquely veiled face
Silhouetted on a mosaic of malice and mischief
Preying on our deficient position

Only the sympathetic yellow moon
Smiles consolingly, empathetically
Peeping through the clouds on the night sky
Smiling at Annaba and Cape Town
Smiling at Alula and Dakar
When will we have the freedom
To return her gay smile?

STRIVE by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

When it’s hard
Protect your heart
So long as you have a will
You have something still
So long as you are alive
You got to strive
And you will achieve
Whatever you believe

Nothing to write by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

Here I sit
Feeling unfit
Yet feeling I should write
Even with no insight
About my intentions
No inspirations

So with my pen in hand
I decide to scribble my stand
In the heart of nowhere
But looking for somewhere
And so I write these little a line
Rather than wordlessly resign

It then opens my inner eyes
To eventually realise
That there is always something
In the nothingness of anything
For even with nothing to write
About the nothingness I can write.

Nightfall... by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

As darkness swallows the hamlet
Peace of silence reigns
Spare her heart
And disturbed mind
Where wails of pain prevail
Where only misery dwells
Echoes of loud screams
Spin her head

Yesterday’s brawl
Spells her sore marriage
His insults and assaults
Still injure her soul
Yet he’ll soon come back
Bubbling hot
Smiling not
But this time to a house
And not a home

For she’ll be gone
Before the day’s curtains fall
Before this night’s rage swallows her peace
She’ll be on her way
To get another life
Where night falls
And peace of silence reigns for all.

Just asking by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

Would you judge a smile
By its mile?
Or its while?
Or the joy it can pile?

Would you judge a handshake
By the duration it will take?
Or by its sake?
Or by the things at stake?

Would you judge a friend
By the help he can lend?
Or the times you spend?
Or by the cares he can tend?

Would you judge peoples cries
By their whys?
Or the wetness of the eyes?
Or by the feelings that do arise?

Now tell me, would you judge my mind
By its curious kind
Of seeking to find
Or by how much I’m still behind?

Just asking by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

of extreme reality by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

Reality in its overwhelming extremes
Transcends into the realms of dreams
Worse than wretched nightmares at times
Sweeter than a poor man’s pipe dreams other times
So reckon your heart as your virtual deity
And never try to peg your hallowed divinity
On someone else’s meretricious life trail
Life is a vast sea; just keep your ship under sail
For the sacrosanct confines of spirituality
Are a preserve of you and your God
Even in such hopeless extremities of reality
A man’s soul is his ultimate strength; nod!

Cabin in the jungle by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

From my lonely cabin in the vast jungle
I composed these fairly few lines for you
Through the many quiet trees that stand single
The whistling birds lent me a tune so true
They and I could sing together each morning
With I sitting on a rugged rock by the stream
Watching the splendour of a new day dawning
Wishing the same could translate into my dream
But like the waters in the stream flowing past
My splendid moments never seem to last

Many paths pass through the forest of trees
Till even the loneliest, criss-cross with another
But from my little cabin, seemingly each flees
Bumping into each other’s way away, they’d rather
I only hear about the winds blowing across
From rumours by the swaying trees around
For even in her vase outside, my dear lovely rose
The sways have conspired, her responses to confound
To dance when there is no jungle music playing
And slumber when every stem and trunk is swaying.

Oh come share this serene jungle mood with me
And let the birds teach you the songs we sing
Come make my sombre cottage alive again to be
For all I miss here, you can duly bring
Come let us sit together by the whispering stream
On the once rugged rocks, by my buttocks made smooth
And sing new songs of realities dethroning a dream
Come let us sing songs, lovers we’ll soothe
With the birds we will do this each morning
As we watch two new days simultaneously dawning

Romancing the moon by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

My hand won’t reach my mouth
And if it did I washed it once
As the sun that will rises from the south
Luck will one day stray my way
If not then why hasn’t it done so
Yet the eastern sun will come daily and go

My pocket might as well be sealed
When the tailor is patching the other holes
For the emptiness within is becoming too heavy to bear
Instead I need more holes on my belt
To hold my new pocket less trousers up
And cover some shame
From the curious yet selfish eyes

From the sleeplessness of my bed
Do I draw my resolve to stay awake
While barren ambitions play games with my meek mind
I try in vain to sort out my tomorrow
But every sun rises to discredit me
So tonight I will romance the moon
To make tomorrows sun jealous of me

For yourself by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

Yesterday tortures my conscience
But tomorrow never cares
Time mocks my patience
As twilight glares

But someone’s got to do it
For the sake of others
Though we all sucked the teat
Of our loving mothers

So don’t show me that finger
But use better the pointing hand
Though thoughts stubbornly linger
They are mere footsteps on sand

Don’t show me your tears
I’ve shed mine too
Walk out of your enslaving fears
And join my crew

A drowning man grasps at straws
To solicit some hope
For whenever hope grows
One can cope

So better do something for yourself
As we all wait to die
Might as well sit like stocks on a shelf
And poverty will sure come to buy.

Tunnels of life by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

The sleepless naked floor
Caressed my body last night
And awoke me from a sleepless slumber
With its cold bare hands
It imparted a rueful reality into my conscience
As the old rusty iron sheet roof
Welcomed the falling raindrops in
To baptize my myopic piousness

I have worn-off the soles of my feet
Carrying my testimonials of oppression
That feed the human resource manager’s family
Yet leaves my stomach full of emptiness
I yawn and yearn…
All the way into another sleepless slumber

Paperlessness pays them better
For their minds wander into themselves
Then their selves rule their tomorrow
Better than we chainless slaves do
Trying in vain to live other people’s ideas
Taking the long wrong ride
Believing it’s the right brighter tunnel of life

of patience by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

You wait for the water in the pot to boil
For the seeds in the field to sprout from the soil
You wait for nine months for your baby to be born
Day only comes after the night is gone
And even when trying to slim you have to wait
To eventually lose some perceived undesirable weight
Patience oftenly, eventually, brings a good reward
But when taken too far patience breeds a coward

Yes! Life is virtually about waiting
But if taken too far it is just jesting
For though patience is an old virtue
Why remain stagnant like a statue?
Time rides on, waiting for no one
So wake up and have a plan
The moment is duly now
Don’t ask why don’t ask how

of love by Ben Omondi Otieno

8/5/2007

Love is a game of fools
But the hordes it fools
It also duly schools

Today’s love is but a relic
It is a sweet mystic
Love is psychic

Love dons many colours
Like do flowers
That change with the hours

But love is ours
For its glamours
And its sours