Over the past few years, Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ has been blessing us with poems that reflect his fifth decade. There was the three poems to mark his 52nd, and the tantalising poem to mark his 54th!

This year, please join us in wishing the great Kenyan writer a happy birthday! And enjoy these beautiful words, reflecting on the slower pace that brings contentment to one’s life.

 

 

Poem at 55

We both admit it
I am loving moving much slower now.
My younger self
that fast runner
who went through life like a chain saw
is surprisingly pleased (yet unhappy
resigned perhaps?) to learn
that there are no brackets
that every-thing lives a full life
in between
a single
off-heart-beat.

 

 

 

*Also check out Mũkoma’s 55 Errant List of Literary Things

 

 

 

 

Photo by KAT on Unsplash