PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

For centuries the mugumo tree stood

Hewn in the naked earth amid

The flame trees of Thika, firm

And strong like a toned beast.

To the Gikuyu of Chania, it’s blessed

And revered because it’s soaked with

The milk-spittle of Mugo-wa-Kibiru, the

Prophet who said it’ll only fall

When the allien snake fell, the prophesy

Enough to raise the ego of the Mau Mau

Pining for liberty years later. This annoyed

The then Colonial governor who in contempt

Cursed it with his foreign tongue ,

Ordered it to be power-sawed down,

Have the heathen’s tree roots baked with fire.

Well the tree fell but never died. At sunrise like

A hydra’s head its roots spread earth-deep, Its

Tendrils sprout skyward like a supplicants hands

To the chagrin of the colony. A sacred tree

Swayed not in a storm and the natives

Had a mystery about them that satiated

Their spirits. The mugumo tree grew

Embedded in the heart of history loud

With the voice of freedom, fortified

And flourished with the milk of the savannah sun.