In my teens,
When I first came
to Nairobi
It was the buildings that caught my eye
The tall skyscrapers amazed my young curious mind
Like a typical villager,
I would stand and marvel at KICC
Next the Hilton would amaze me
The tele posta’s, the Am banks, the Lonhro’s, the View Park towers
All made me stop and stare and just wonder
The bell-bottomed Co-operative bank house used to give me the last
shock
As I boarded a 111 bus to school
Still struck with sheer awe
Of their dazzling heights
In my twenties
When I came to Nairobi
I was in the university
That time;
It was the women
Who caught my eye
They were all beautiful
With rounded bottoms and succulent breasts
Swinging up down, left right
With them my eyes went the same
Left right, up down
From Moi Avenue to Kimathi street
They were everywhere
Kenyatta Avenue
Swinging
Left right, up down
Uptown to downtown
Down to the go-down
Down to the go-down
Ronald Ngala street
To Tom Mboya street
They were there, swinging and swaying their hips rhythmically
Up down, left right
They were all chocolate brown
I guessed their skin was baby belly soft
Only if I could touch
They all had long hair
And wet kissable lips
I wondered how they tested
But all I could do was dream
I wondered where they all came from
And how they had deprived the countryside off beauty
I somehow believed there was some ‘kanjo’ guys
Who used to sit at Kangemi, Mlolongo and Kasarani
To vet all the women entering the city
All from Western, Nyanza and Rift valley where stopped and vetted
at Kangemi
Those from central at Kasarani, the ones from coast and Ukambani were
vetted at Mlolongo
The ugly where turned back
While the beautiful where allowed into the city
In my thirties
I come to Nairobi
This time,
It’s the cars
That get my eye
I get lost
I get struck, amazed
With the big machines
That roll on this city streets
There goes a Range
Another Range, one, yes two…three
That’s a jaguar coming this way
Which Benz class is that that just zoomed past?
Wow! Check out that beamer
My head sways left
Even before that is past
Here comes another serious guzzler
Head left, head right, then left
Oh my, my neck is paining
Where do all these cars come from?
Who owns them?
Where do they make their money?
This city, I swear there are serious cars
In my forties
God willing
I will still come to Nairobi
I wonder what will amaze me then
Until then
Here at Yaya
Let me check out the latest car
That has just zoomed by
