WHERE
HEARTS ARE MENDED
I seek the month where broken hearts
Are made quite whole again
Where those who brag and with pride
Find healing for their pain
I seek Holy Ramadhan where I can hide
My failure and shame
Where I can stand up tall again
Free from pointing fingers and blame
I’ll lay my broken hopes and dreams
I bow my head on the
ground to Allah
Here I regain my sense of worth
And confidence from defeat
And to those who journey life’s lonesome road
Without a dream in mind
To sad hearts longing for love
Who seek and never find
Allah reach them this Holy month
Revive their dwindling faith
They look so
downcast;lift them up
Restore their sense of worth
It’s Ramadhan oh Allah
Alhamdulillahi we thank you Lord
Subhanallah…all praise to thee
Allahumah ibarik..bless the umma
Jaafar olum © 14 07 2013
THIS HOLY
MONTH-RAMADHAN
I thank you Allah,for bringing me
Into this holy month slope
Our hearts leaps with joy once more
To see this months light of hope.
Just yesterday and the days before yesterday
Some souls we have buried….now they got no say
They lay in the grave today
They were yearning so much to see this holy month at bay
And fast and celebrate eid again in a ray
But that was not meant to be for them home and away
I thank you Allah….for bringing me all the way
And helping me to stand without a sway
Now I’m rejoicing…. in thy holy name I pray
We are in your holy month,you double our pay
Jaafar olum©12 07 2013
I BEAR THIRST ALL DAY
I bear thirst all day
Not because of drought
I endure hunger all day
Not because of famine
The scorching sun burn on me all day
Not because there is no shade
I endure my desire for woman all day
Not because I have no woman
I share with the poor
Not because my purse if full
I want peace not because I’m weak
This is the Holy month of Ramadhan
The beauty of it is I bear all for Allah
Gathering what builds me a golden palace in the hereafter
Ramadhan Karim
Jaafar
olum©10 6 2013
NELSON
MANDELA…R.I.P.
Let madiba go!
And get out of this world echoes
Time has come to rest
Mandela in peace
Hanging his breath on those machines
That is useless pace
Let madiba go!
Dig him a grave
This is a man who fear not death
Nelson Mandela was one brave
Take out the machine from his breath
Then let him rest with his ancestors
6 feet down to the depth
Let madiba go!
But I ask you south Africans
The shadows of madiba passage
Hangs in the air pleading to Africans
Not to put it in a Pretoria hospital cage
For the pregnancy of his deeds
Apartheid he emancipated you in past age
Made you a people of all races,colours and creeds
Let Madiba go!
Jaafar olum©5 july 2013
MY THANKS
GIVING
God’s gifts so many a pleasure bring
That I will make a poetry thanksgiving
How much to feel by myself privileged to live long
God’s love my life He prolong
For eyes He gave myself I clearly see
The many beautiful things there be
God’s gifts so many a pleasure bring
That I will make a poetry thanksgiving
For lungs to breathe the earthly air
For nose to smell its fragrance rare
For tongue to taste the fruits that grow
The herbs and leaves my throat swallow
God’s gifts so many a pleasure bring
That I will make a poetry thanksgiving
For my manhood enjoying womanhood
Whose sweetness groan
is felt in the hood
Romancing her skin to feel the cheerful fun
Sun and moon and stars above us run
God’s gift so many a pleasure bring
That I will make a
poetry thanksgiving
See around the ocean india where I can bathe and play
It’s beaches sand where I can race all day
The winds that blow as they rush by
Above clouds race across the sky
God’s gift many a pleasure bring
That I will make a poetry thanksgiving
The beach benches of woods
Where I can spend my lonely moods
And return back to the ghetto that is my home
The garden where I love to roam
God’s gift many a pleasure bring
That I will make a poetry thanksgiving
God bless my parents everyday
Though my papa is in a place so very far away
Take my thanks…Oh God above
For all these gifts many a pleasure of ya love
Jaafar olum©4th july 2013
POET AND KING
Though I am a king I have no throne
Save this wooden cracked house in the ghetto
I have no empire,yet my sway
No pleasing nobody on his knee
In groveling reverence to me
Yet with my pen every heart beat high
And there is fire in every eye
And love and gratitude they bring
As tribute unto me,king
The folk that throng the busy street
Know not it is a king
they meet
And I am glad there is not seen
The monarch in my face and mien
I should not choose to be the cause
Of fawning or of coarse applause
I am content to know the the arts
For when unto their hearts
For when unto their hearts I sing
I am a king…I am king
My scepter see…it is a pen
Where with I rule this hearts of men
Sometime it pleaseth to be guile
It’s amonarch fancy with a smile
Sometime it’s a thirst for tears
But not to las for years
I walk the noblest lord on earth
Dispensing sympathy and mirth
Aha! it is a magic thing
That makes me what I am…a king
Let empires crumble as they may
Proudly I hold imperial sway
The sunshine and the rain of year
Are human smiles and human tears
I know I may soon die
But the poems I write shall never die
His glory from so great a king
Come brother be a king with me
And rule mankind eternally
Lift up the weak and cheer the strong
Defend the truth…combat the wrong!
You will find no scepter like the pen
To hold and sway the hearts of men
Its edicts flow in blood and tears
That will outwash the flood of years
Now write your thinking and not milking
And be with me your own king,a king!
Jaafar olum©2nd july 2013
Prayer for
the the downcast
So many are helpless in the restless crowd
Wondering why their dreams never come true
Politician and priests committing more crime
The helpless trudging without a dream
With their barefoot walking the road
Without a reason to survive
They are working hard in burning sun
Waiting for a friend to stir their soul
Someone to wake their hope
They got broke and run out of loaf
They talk and their voice
Is like poverty talking to democracy
Just the needy talking to the greedy
No clothes to hide their nakedness
Someone make a privilege to reach
Some soul in dark despair
And feel proud that you gave the hand
That eased their heavy load
©:jaafar olum 19 06 2013
KENYAN
BUDGET 2013-2014
The ordinary kenyan,
barely escaping with his life,
heavy burden on his neck,
he dont know who will help him up
because he thought uhuru kenyatta
was our salvation...
But now left for the dead in the middle of the road,
dust hovering around the body
The ordinary kenyan some have taken
to the woods.....
trying to survive from this most shocking budget of murder
They brought us a handcart pusher
dressed clean in a coat and a tie
to please us while they eat our pie
the handcart driver felt he was a kenyan
among the owners of kenya,
Him and wife besieged by a battery of journalists
who poured off questions,
and later the handcart driver watched himself on tv and again he was a kenyan
wait mr president you let kenyans down!
I wish i had a way to leave this country,
but am thinking:
This is independence kenya
i am to stay here.....
feeling the pain of heavy burden
VAT on maize flour,milk,sugar,bread,fuel...
Then finance boss lessen tax on rovers,benz,vox,vitz and the likes.
This is but luxurious country for the few.
Now take me out of here!
I am walking through de grave yard.....
The ordinary kenyan,
barely escaping with his life,
heavy burden on his neck,
he dont know who will help him up
because he thought uhuru kenyatta
was our salvation...
But now left for the dead in the middle of the road,
dust hovering around the body
The ordinary kenyan some have taken
to the woods.....
trying to survive from this most shocking budget of murder
They brought us a handcart pusher
dressed clean in a coat and a tie
to please us while they eat our pie
the handcart driver felt he was a kenyan
among the owners of kenya,
Him and wife besieged by a battery of journalists
who poured off questions,
and later the handcart driver watched himself on tv and again he was a kenyan
wait mr president you let kenyans down!
I wish i had a way to leave this country,
but am thinking:
This is independence kenya
i am to stay here.....
feeling the pain of heavy burden
VAT on maize flour,milk,sugar,bread,fuel...
Then finance boss lessen tax on rovers,benz,vox,vitz and the likes.
This is but luxurious country for the few.
Now take me out of here!
I am walking through de grave yard.....
©:jaafar olum 06 2013
OVERTIME
(note to a new secretary)
Tomorrow
shall we.......
Meet
after office hours
to do the b's of ya filing
and do some typing
in ma office
there is....
The very wide table
or the soft carpet
on which we can lay the foundation
of ya promotion prospects.
It wont take long
but dont forget
to tell ya husband
that you will be
doing overtime.
15 06 2013
(note to a new secretary)
Tomorrow
shall we.......
Meet
after office hours
to do the b's of ya filing
and do some typing
in ma office
there is....
The very wide table
or the soft carpet
on which we can lay the foundation
of ya promotion prospects.
It wont take long
but dont forget
to tell ya husband
that you will be
doing overtime.
15 06 2013
Happy
fathers day
Becoz of him am celebrated as a Dad
in the ghetto they dont call my name,
many down there call me "baba noordine"
This boy brought me respect of a dad
Today am celebrated world over
and i celebrate him too
coz he is my dad...
May Allah keep yu Dad
Happy fathers day!!
Becoz of him am celebrated as a Dadin the ghetto they dont call my name,
many down there call me "baba noordine"
This boy brought me respect of a dad
Today am celebrated world over
and i celebrate him too
coz he is my dad...
May Allah keep yu Dad
Happy fathers day!!
RAMADHAN
MESSAGE
I welcome you all brothers and sisters
With open arms as the holy month beckons
It’s only few days and it arrives
We’ll have to forgive our empty stomach
For their will be no lunch
Pardon your quench
No sex during the day time
Or else you’ll pay a hefty fine
This poetry is not a deadline
Some of us will intentionally develop ulcers
While others claim of cancers
They dodge from ramadhan matters
Ramadhan is a month where poor and rich become equal
The month of forgiveness and faith renewal
Before our day on earth become final
Ramadhan benefits are due
Those to be left out are but few
The month ends when the moon is sighted new
And it becomes eid Mubarak
For majority enjoy its luck
Embracing Muslim of white and black
I do hope Ramadhan come again
And heal the sinners of their pain
Now get ready to welcome the month of gain……
©jaafarolum 12 06 2013
This Blessed Month
Ramadan
All deeds of the seed of Adam
are for him but one
Oh Lord of this blessed month
we praise you for Ramadhan
and for the kitab You revealed therein
to guide us to the light
Ya Rabb, give us the imaan
to stand in prayer that mighty night
let our siyam benefit us more
than mere hunger and unquenched thirst
and by Your Grace, the ayaat of Qur'an
each day we shall rehearse
may we be restrained from the evil deeds
and from evil in what we say
may we know and understand
and implement the Prophet's way
what joy was there when believers saw
the hilal, the crescent moon
All deeds of the seed of Adam
are for him but one
Oh Lord of this blessed month
we praise you for Ramadhan
and for the kitab You revealed therein
to guide us to the light
Ya Rabb, give us the imaan
to stand in prayer that mighty night
let our siyam benefit us more
than mere hunger and unquenched thirst
and by Your Grace, the ayaat of Qur'an
each day we shall rehearse
may we be restrained from the evil deeds
and from evil in what we say
may we know and understand
and implement the Prophet's way
what joy was there when believers saw
the hilal, the crescent moon
May it come with peace and faith
may we all emerge from this month, insha'Allah
muttaqun
may we all emerge from this month, insha'Allah
muttaqun
HARD ROAD TO TRAVEL
We've got a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
Indeed it's a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
But we can't turn back,our heart must get fixed
Our mind's made up, we'll never stop
Allah will see, see us through
Let me tell you
I'm all alone, u are all alone,
Indeed it's a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
But we can't turn back,our heart must get fixed
Our mind's made up, we'll never stop
Allah will see, see us through
Let me tell you
I'm all alone, u are all alone,
This lonesome road we roam
U've got no love to call ya own,
U've got no love to call ya own,
I’ve got no love to call my very own
Oh the river gets deeper, the hills get steeper
And the pain gets deeper every day,
We've got a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
Indeed it's a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
But we can't turn back,our heart must get fixed
Our mind's made up, we'll never stop
LOVE will see, see us through
Oh the river gets deeper, the hills get steeper
And the pain gets deeper every day,
We've got a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
Indeed it's a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
But we can't turn back,our heart must get fixed
Our mind's made up, we'll never stop
LOVE will see, see us through
We dream of a home far beyond the sea
Where there is love and peace and joy for us
Oh, in our eyes we see troubles and dangers for yu an’ me
But destiny where it leads we must go,
We've got a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
Indeed it's a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
But we can't turn back,our heart must get fixed
Our mind's made up, we'll never stop
Where there is love and peace and joy for us
Oh, in our eyes we see troubles and dangers for yu an’ me
But destiny where it leads we must go,
We've got a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
Indeed it's a hard road to travel and a rough rough way to go
But we can't turn back,our heart must get fixed
Our mind's made up, we'll never stop
Copyright:jaafarolum
11 06 2013
SPARE ME
Today in Kenya a grenade was hurled
Injuring 15 people
among them little boy in my neighborhood
A class 4 pupil confirmed by OCPD
This poem is dedicated to this standard 4 pupil
injured by grenade attack
in Likoni,Mombasa County,Coastal
Kenya,
this are his words whispering in my chest:
“I beg you to spare me
I have just started my life
Am a school boy
4th year in my primary
I have just started my life
I am so harmless,
I cannot even throw a stone at you
My heart is filled with love
Love for humanity
I don’t understand why….
Pliz explain to me
why you hurl a grenade
at me
why ?tell me why?
I don’t have an enemy
I don’t know hate
I only know love
My teachers teach me love
My parents teach me love
My religion teach me love
I beg you to spare my life….”
Copyright:jaafarolum 09 06 2013
CSW’s in
the CBD
So I take a ride in the Mombasa cbd at night
And I saw the refined ladies perches
Along the streets down sauti house
These ladies are adorning islamic cultured dress
The dress is black buibui
Their heads covered in veil
Reminding me of America kungfu ninja movie
Some pips cigarette
And smoke choking the environment
On their hands with expensive leather bags
Bought with the night collections from men
After they got painted with kisses and magic touches
Leaving their vital parts to vibrate
Raining hard
So they scoop the wallet
And give not less than 1k to csw
For the short time service he got
Never thinking that the act is forbidden
Showing the devil’s modesty
And man with no commonsense
Get attracted by the brand cosmetic face of her
Some amounts of perfume
Under her armpits
And deodorant between her legs
To stop smell
Of many men she wore
their manhood
Our Reality
We have the obligation to treat each other with dignity
This should be our treaty
For the change of humanity
This change have got no political party
But mus bring us our liberty
And define our entity
Taking us away the path of uncertainity
And confess to the Almighty
And move with dreams of brevity
Lighting our paths with electricity
The youth and the elderly identity
Keeping off sin-city just take it easy with simplicity
And that’s our reality
A VIEW FROM
THE FLYOVER
The streets
of Mombasa
Are lined
with the debts of Nairobi
Bicycles
tinkling like metal crickets
Motorcycles
and scooters
Screeching
with a cobra fangs
Rovers driving
over potholed streets
No by
passes
And Toyota car
burned at nyali bridge
Bringing to
standstill
The
departures along malindi road
Many take
route eleven
Expecting
kamwana government to bring ease
A dream
they have with their governor
It’s dream
that governor will transform
And bail
the streets from potholes
And that
the drug barons shall not
Chew
wallets and health of youth
With police
harassing journalists
For using
their ink and lens
And
kidnappers waiting
To sweep
them away and threaten
The skin of
Mombasa
Is leprous
with the progress of Nairobi
I AM
LOOKING FOR A she LION
I am going
in search of a she Lion
Who should
be terrible in struggle
Who is feared
and loved.
I want a
she-Lion with a gentle look
With a frank smile
a cheerful
she Lion
with red
eyes
without
reticence.
A she Lion
immense in Love
I shall
call this she Lion
QUEEN
I am
looking for a SHE Lion
A generous
she Lion
Who shares
bread
I am
looking for a she Lion
Hard and
implacable
With
enemies….
This she
Lion
gentle and
human
Friendly
and simple
I shall
call this Lion
QUEEN
I am going
in search of a SHE Lion
Who smiles
at defeat
With such
faith in victory
I am
looking for a she Lion
Who should
be bold
a beloved
she Lion
a dreaded
she Lion
I shall call this she Lion
QUEEN
