27 July 2015

Are You Man Enough? by Kelvin Kaesa (@KelvinKaesa)



Who is a man?
Mwanaume ni?
Mwanaume ni wallet?
Mwanaume ni effort?

Men are all that
And double-caps bold highlighted headlines on the front page of a best-selling magazine, 
you can find 10 tips on how to know if he is the one,
Six more on how to keep him;
And 5 secrets on how to make him good in bed.
So go on and get yours while stocks last, get him while he’s still tall dark and handsome.

This is branding
The idea of manhood has now become commercialized
turned into a pop culture trend
the principles defining manhood can now be found copy-pasted onto newspaper lifestyle columns,
cut-out and pinned onto the walls of high school dorm room cubicles filtered into man-crush-Monday Instagram hashtags

“you thought it was hard being a woman?
Try being a man on a Monday morning when your crush posts a man crush and it’s not you…” 

it’s hard out here for ninjas like we
society is forcing us to evolve
we no longer stand straight and cannot hold up our heads backs bent typing away on google trends
a man has to make sure his personality traits are tagged just fine to show up on the first page your search results go on, take your phones and google “how to be a man” you will find more than 2.4 billion results in about 0.79 seconds
Now that is fast
Fast enough to teach man how to bend into a consumer sized package wrapped up and delivered to your door step
waiting for you to let him in
his heart now bends in ways that won’t let him feel
and whatever else is left standing straight, has stereotypes to fill its place the bits of human left in him are trapped inside a hard heart
hard as a clenched fist holding on to trends, and needs he needs…
he needs more morphine for the state he’s in
more dope to lace his lips so they get hooked to what he says he needs more bass for the chiqs he wishes he’d win
he needs more chisel-chipped abs for the freeze-frame photo-shoot photos his followers want to see
They want to see more smiling… less frowning
“smile wider… don’t let the world see your frown. You are atlas go on hold your head up and don’t get your world off-balance”

I wonder, how many of you ladies take time to make sure you go out with the right guy?
I mean a crop-top, high heels and classy clutch bag need a fine brand to accessorize I wonder what skin tone of a man will match your dress tonight
There is a saying that goes
“teach a man to fish and you save him for a lifetime”
but, teach a man how to hunt like a dog and all he will ever know is to follow commands sit…he sits stand…and so he does here have a bone for your efforts
now wag your tail, roll over and die
whoever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks forgot to mention that survival is a basic instinct so old dogs can learn to adapt and humans…well humans are not far off from the rest of the species keep repeating a slogan and see if he does not adapt… even bone of his bone can be made just that…a bone that… that is how you identify awesome branding!!!!

Now, how many guys here today think they are man enough?
How many of you are sure you are not just brands?
Go on. Think about it. Look into yourself
Look keenly, look closely
Because I can bet… that all you see are blurred lines
Your blood line has become so twisted you can form jungle-gyms inside your heart You cannot trace down your ancestry
In order for a man to find the true definition of manhood
We have to go back to the beginning
Hebrews 1:3 “…the son is the radiance of the father and he holds everything by the power of his words”
The son is the radiance of the father
The sun reflects the light of its father
The son is a perfect image of his father…like literally
He was made in his image and likeness.
Life breathed into his lungs, heart pumping he speaks things into existence

Now, you need to realize this is why God intended that man become head of the family
Because in him he holds the power to hold things in place, be a provider and sustains those close to him. He reflects good character that defines hiss offspring’s well being
So, do you still think you are man enough or just a brand?
You can wear your snapbacks, saggy pants and cool hairstyles. But that…that is just branding. Be a man


This piece was originally posted at Story Zetu. All rights preserved to Kelvin Kaesa. Read More of his works and projects #OfSmallBoysInBigCities and #MadeToRise here

6 July 2015

WHAT IF WE: APPRECIATE



“So I called my dad to wish him a happy father’s day and he laughed saying I've got jokes”.


 I swear I burst out laughing that day. See this young lady known as Shiru wa Wanjiku is a funny one. Not only does she write beautiful poems that kiss your soul over and over (read them here), she is also a crazy one. You should hear the two of us having a conversation. I would like to blame the fact that we attended the same high school but that wouldn’t look good for the high school right? So I’ll just blame my circle of friends and make a mental note that I should get new ones.
 You’ve got to love how we love these “Day” days. Valentine’s Day, Christmas Day, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Labour Day, Independence Day, Birth-Day (lol)...then there are those days that we have invented;  sijui WhatsApp Admin Day, Best Friends Day et al. Any reason to buzz over social media platforms; right?

I remember when I used to volunteer at a certain children’s home where this young lad who we shall name Jude used to reside. Among his peers of ages two to three, he was the sweetest thing alive…stubborn he was, but I mean, he would hide sweets given by the frequent visitors to give to babies that were asleep when visitors came. Occasionally he would give me one when I left for home in the evening and ask me to take it to keep it as his way to say “thank you for taking care of us today”. Well, he would also add that I should not eat it but give it to that baby we had at home because “sweet ni za watoto (sweets are for young ones)”, but that is beside the point.  You know that warm fuzzy feeling you feel in your stomach, your insides warming up and you feel like hugging someone? That's how I felt...each and every time. Believe you me that small act would make me look forward to being in that home as early as possible.

Ever attended a  burial where those in attendance fill their sentences with “so and so was a good person…they did this and this for me…..they used to do this every day…I wish  I could tell them how I appreciated it…if only they would wake up and see how grateful I am…”? Many are the times that we take for granted what others do to us, until the grim reaper takes them away or they stop doing it; then we start singing the “I miss the way you used to” song. We live in a society where when and if someone does something for you, you think they are obligated to do that because, I mean… it is you. Or some society rules dictate that they do.

Well, I say break those societal rules and obligations. I mean, do we have to wait until the next “Day” day so that we appreciate someone by putting their picture as our profile picture, or post on  walls about how much we appreciate their existence (while knowing too well that they are not on the social media platform you posted and you would rather do that for the “likes” than say it in person) , or wait for the day things start going south and memories of what they used to do is all we have, or death takes them away? 

We need not to! Appreciate that person who sacrifices for your sake. Someone makes food for you? Appreciate. Someone does your laundry? Appreciate. Someone keeps checking on you? Appreciate. Someone is always there? Appreciate. Someone teaches you a lesson? Appreciate. Someone takes care of you? Appreciate. Someone taught you what you now know? Appreciate. Someone did that thing for you? Appreciate. Someone helped you? Well, appreciate!

I appreciate you all who take the time to read my posts. 



What if we appreciated each other? What if we started today? What if we did it #ForMyCity and for humanity?

Facebook:  Njeri Kareithi
Twitter: @deekareithi




 (The campaign dubbed #ForMyCity  is led by Poetry Spot. Follow the conversation here)