When Aketch was here
Her love was near
She was just a whistle away
When she smiled,
Her twin dimples displayed
And her mbanya unfurled
They were just unmatched
Aketch’s hair was short
But none rivaled her beauty
Her bottoms were round
And her breasts were full
Her waist rivalled a wasp
She was never a rangi ya thao
Just another dark-skinned African lady
But she was soft like a pillow
Her eyes were big and round
And they were naturally seductive
When Aketch left for the city,
I hoped she would be back to me
Oh! Poor thing, poor me!
When she returned,
She said that she abhorred village boys
She had learned to wear weaves
She had known manicure and pedicure
Her nails were scarily long
And her lips were beet root red
She even had a ring on her nose
Like the grade cows in the village
Aketch almost puked
When our analogue mother
Served her our favourite nyonyo
She only spoke of pizzas and KFCs,
Balozis and Gilbeys
I wondered what she had become
When she left again,
She promised to tell me
If our love was still alive
Five moons have passed
But she’s yet to call me
If you meet Aketch
In those bee-hive streets of the city
Tell her that I moved on,
Tell her that Atieno is warming my bed
Tell her that Atieno is doing it way better than her
And most importantly, tell her
That Atieno eats nyoyo
And that we’re extremely happy
©The Untamed Ink
* Mbanya – space between the teeth (incisors)
* Rangi ya thao – brown
* Nyoyo – githeri
Courtesy of BAM CARES ARTMORE, POETRY GROUP, KENYA by Bettie Atemo(Founder)