Careless Whispers

I died,he died

When the bus to ghost town left us behind

I whistled when it started raining

He wept

I screamed at the top of my lungs every time my football team won a match

He drew thickets instead

And when our neighbours stole our jiko, he poured sewage water on their vegetables

I cheered on but took off as soon as the chief showed up

I laughed when he fell off the bicycle

Jeered him when he addressed the villagers

Pit a caterpillar on his neck when he was asleep

When Atieno died, he moaned for me

Even though I despised her

And when he was choking on hot porridge, I offered him pepper

When my dignity faded, he lent me his

And when he told me that my kaba was nice, I kicked his manhood

Then one day he didn’t come back home, more nyoyo for me

And he didn’t come back on the second day either, and the day after that

Even after the maize was harvested

I was fat now and tired of the surplus food

And one day as I was cleaning out our shack, I came across his favourite T-shirt

I let out a subtle chuckle but my knees betrayed me

They trembled profusely so that I almost lost my footing

Suddenly overwhelmed, it dawned on me that the current had swept him away

That it unfolded right before my eyes, and that the bad spirits had summoned me at that very moment

Mayooooo! I had lost my mind to careless whispers.

-Sonderklasse-

*nyoyo- mixture of maize and beans

*jiko-a small cooking utility

*mayoo- an exclamation in Dholuo

*kaba- free flowing dress worn by women in west Africa