EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

I got carried away listening to the lyrics
of the Empire State of mind

All I could imagine was being in a town

where street lights inspire me

Concrete jungle…. Where dreams are
made of… not broken

Mountain peaks of expectations and
no pits of disappointments

Nairobi… catch me before I wake

I got carried away listening to the lyrics
of the Empire state of mind

Dreaming of streets which make one
feel brand new

Not ones which chase you with the
stench of urine… creepy down town

Mean streets which torture even the
bravest of hearts

Lined up street families that make you
ask yourself
“What is wrong with humanity?”

Nairobi… walk silently I don’t want to
wake

I got carried away listening to the lyrics
of the Empire state of mind

Thinking of streets that show you that
there is nothing you cannot do

Not ones that ask you, “What have you
done?”

Yet all that sweat, those papers of
recommendations, those workshops
certificates and paper diplomas and
degrees mean nothing; If you do not
know anyone

Nairobi mama… yawa

This beautiful dream… without you in it

Without your mean sons and
daughters who like vipers puff their
ferns as they stock their kill

In hearts lie wall masks of tribalism

waiting for a call to action

Where the question where are you
from means, from which tribe are you?

Mama help us… gently…

because I
don’t want to wake

I got carried away listening to the
Empire state of mind

I would like to stick in this illusive world

Where stars rotate around the earth…
and paint the face of God smiling down

Where waterfalls touch the sky
and
sweet fruits grow on grass too

I want to live in this place where no
place in the world could dream of
comparing!!!

© Namatsi Lukoye

courtesy of Storyzetu