At 5 p.m. the sun’s shadow crosses half of the veranda That’s when women begin to prepare dinner And the boy boils water for the cows’ teats They love a teat massage with warm water Before one can start pulling hard for the milk
About MKB
Mildred Kiconco Barya is a North Carolina-based writer, educator, and poet of East African descent. She teaches and lectures globally, and is the author of four full-length poetry collections, most recently "The Animals of My Earth School" released by Terrapin Books, 2023. Her prose, hybrids, and poems have appeared in Shenandoah, Joyland, The Cincinnati Review, Tin House, New England Review, and elsewhere. She’s now working on a collection of creative nonfiction, and her essay, “Being Here in This Body”, won the 2020 Linda Flowers Literary Award and was published in the North Carolina Literary Review. She serves on the boards of African Writers Trust, Story Parlor, and coordinates the Poetrio Reading events at Malaprop’s Independent Bookstore/Café. She blogs here: www.mildredbarya.com
What else is new? Mugabe and his Grace
So Grace Mugabe, infamously known as Dis-Grace, has been having an affair with the central bank chief, Gideon Gono. There’s a way the name Gono sounds unhygienic—VD like—but given the fact that we are looking at a woman who goes on a shopping spree and spends more than an entire country’s GDP, well, she couldn’t […]
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The vultures
I don’t usually try to explain my poetry but here I’ll say this poem has nothing to do with vultures but has a lot to do with vultures.
The storm here
We had a storm here in da cuse, thunder raging and rain pouring donkeys for a whole day and night, I just found myself sitting still and watching the rain.
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Madness, bloodshed, and Africa’s hope.
Madness is upon us and Somali militants have claimed responsibility. The BBC reports; The Somali Islamist group al-Shabab has said it was behind twin blasts which hit the Ugandan capital Kampala on Sunday, killing 74 people. In a statement in Mogadishu, spokesman for the group Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage threatened more attacks. A Ugandan official […]
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it’s been passion and pride this June
I’ve confirmed it. If there’s anything that unites millions of fans across the globe, it’s the World Cup soccer. It’s got many of us up and shouting in queer places at odd hours, betting and speculating, giving 101% support to the teams we want to win.
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Stoku, the new literary form according to Ben Okri
Ben Okri is back. This time not with just a new book but a new experimental form in the name of Stoku. In his own words, “A stoku is an amalgam of short story and haiku. It is a story as it inclines towards a flash of a moment, insight, vision or paradox.”
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Volcano Iceland (Eyjafjallajökull)
Earth gyrating, rolling and splitting Fiery tongues spitting, hurling rocks Unleashing fury. Beauty unexpected
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Moving forward & Ithaka poem
Just realizing March is passing me by without an entry. It shouldn’t be. It’s been a good month, ending rather so quickly compared to February which seemed quite long, yet it had the shortest months. I guess it’s because many of us wanted to see the sun, so Feb kind of dragged its feet to […]
Micere Mugo: young, beautiful and soulful
Ah, am sated. I’ve ticked the month of February off because it’s done. Finished. The Mugo celebration this weekend released dynamite it’s going to take a while to ‘recover.’ I’m not complaining. I’m commemorating.
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MKB: Thank you so much! I would love to read yours too ...
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Brenda C Wilson: Congratulations! I hope to get a chance to read yo...
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Kwasi opoku: Why did Nana usually say that Adjoa did not know t...
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