I thank God so much for having given me the talent to write and recite poetry. During my second year in high school 1993, I was a very active student and participated in many of the school organization, and events. I joined the journalism club, our first assignment as freshmen to the club was to write a poem, and ever since that day I have never looked back.

Poems have been my antidote, my companion, my therapy, and my vision for the future and my best friend. Poems have been a channel for me to release my stress, frustration, fear, hate, pain, happiness, peace and love, all the emotions that one undergoes. One goes through a lot of adjustments and conditioning, when they arrive at a new place or country, in this case an immigrant, writing poems helped me a lot during my hard times and I survived through a lot because I was able to write poems and express what I feel, I inspired myself and would always encourage myself and believe there is hope for a better tomorrow, indeed I can say that poems also termed as spoken word, has been one of my main surviving tool, my armor, my shield and my love.

I got my first debut of performing my own poems or as a spoken word artist through the Soul in Motion Players, of which I am a member of the company, and then I gracefully entered the open-mike arena and wow! I never realized how many poets are out there and how words are the most powerful thing in the world. I like to perform and do open-mikes because I pass a message to relate to, whether man or woman young or old, I touch peoples hearts and challenge them in the various aspects of their life and in the end we all learn and are positively impacted.

Last but not least, spoken word, puts into use the meaning of freedom of speech, if you do not speak how can you communicate, learn or get help, who will know how you feel, where it hurts or what it takes, thus I write on behalf of those who cannot express themselves and for myself and because the positive response I get from the audience acknowledge the fact that not only are poems important but that poems or spoken word are indeed stories and realities of our life.

I REMEMBER

While I sat on my window pane
Thoughts raced in my mind
While my eyes stared at the sun
That hypnotized me, sending me memories back

I holding the last piece of my survival
A Picture of our children, holding it so tightly
It’s like my life depended on it
My spirit came to life, my hopes, my dreams, my radiant smile
My whole being felt ignited and I rejuvenated

Rhythms of hip hop, jazz, R&B, calypso
Ndombolo, soukous, reggae all came to life
I remembered all my friends
John, Naima, Salif, Susana
How we used rock and roll
And hit the clubs
Till the wee hours of the morning
Chasing waterfalls instead of sticking
To the lakes and the rivers
That we were used too

Then like lightening, hays days,
Just like sunny days drifted away
And now memories of my mother and my father pointing a finger
At me became my reality
And how each time I thought it was going to be different
I was drawing myself in too-deep

But I refused to regret and blame
Because I too enjoyed marriage bliss
I remembered when my husband and I got tested
How we encouraged one another
And new that for the sake of our children
We had to make it

HIV was just another disease to us
Because our home was that of love and affection
Then he passed on
Leaving me to take our children

Fear, sadness, loneliness, shame
Crept into me like a midnight thief
But I Still refused to give up
For I was holding the picture of our children
Looking at it, I knew there must be a future and a hope for them

Not Until I turned on the TV
To listen to the news,
That is when they said that
Africa is only 10% of the world’s population
And 70% of HIV Cases are in Africa Then my heart sunk and I remembered this song

"If they grow without their parents,
Who is gonna tell them this is right
If they grow without their mothers
Who is gonna tell them this is wrong
If they grow without their fathers
Who is gonna tell them this is right
Am Born to suffer, Born to suffer"

And as I took my last breath
I prayed to God, to help
AFRICANS save AFRICA



©2005 Anna Mwalagho.

WOMEN OF AFRICA

As the flower of Africa blooms
So does a new day for the women of Africa unfold
From the time of her delivery
The African woman was known to be a liability not a profit
A loss not a gain
She was to be seen and not to be heard
To be abused, accused, humiliated and despised

Yet women of Africa and women of the world
Have evolved and transcended despite their hardships
They have survived inequalities, disintegration,
physical, verbal and emotional abuse

Women of Africa have survived carrying firewood on their heads
Bags of food on their backs,
A child on their breast all at the same time
While walking to the market talking to them selves
For their voices were not to be heard
And still we rise

We rise because of women who have paved way for equality and justice
Women like Wangari Maathai the first African woman to win a noble peace prize
President Ellen Johnson the first woman to be elected president in an African country,
Eleanor Roosevelt, Mother Teresa, Rosa parks and of course you and I
And still we rise

We rise because we wear many hats
We are mothers,teachers,doctors, managers,politician’s even soldiers
And still humble enough to be ideal wives

We rise because our struggles have made us stronger
Thus our backbones have not weakened but hardened
To be strong as those of camels

And so as we salute each other today
I urge all the women to rally with one another
As we face new challenges of HIV and AIDS,
Poverty and other underlying problems
While still fighting for proper equality and respect

Let us empower one another with knowledge
So we can help eradicate some of this problem
For knowledge is power and lack of it is death

Let empower one another through education
So we can teach both the boys and the girls
The value of the girl child
And her need to be respected

Let us empower and economically enrich one another
So we can become financially independent
For we are the foundation of the home
Without us the house cannot stand

Let us partner with one another
For united we stand and divided we fall
And we all need each other

Let us truly partner and empower one another
To create a peaceful and a sustainable world
For to educate a woman is to educate the whole nation
Because it takes home to build a nation

And even though our struggles still continue
Let us not forget that we the women
Have already won the battle

©2005 Anna Mwalagho.

NO MORE

When We Grew Stronger
Shame was not a sin,
So we tore our curtains down
And let them see our scars,
We cried in market places
And danced on the podiums, tables & counters
We revealed our darkness
To bring forth light

Nothing was left unsaid
No stone was left unturned
We spoke it all, and said the truth
For the truth not only sets us free
But also healed us
Renewed our minds

And in truth we grew stronger
Made wise decisions and took a stand
Said no to pain and yes to peace
Said no to fear and yes to courage

For truly as women and children of God
We were born for greater things
So we give respect and deserve respect
For we know, that true love
Lies in LOVING us not HITTING US!

©2005 Anna Mwalagho.