Ode to Ngugi

By Chifuniro E. Banda (Malawi)

Ode to Ngugi Chifuniro E. Banda Standards stood tall, but not in my learning
The badge I wore hid a world unexplored
With pride, I was never versed in his verse
A citizen without a nation; words without a universe.

A standard writer, it seems, must know his name
Read his works to claim a place in the literary frame
His skilful pen must echo the legends
Her mind must meet Ngugi to lift her craft.

Now that his sun has set in the East
I'll drink his stained pages, the wisdom I skipped
To learn how his creative mind wandered
To shape the minds that craft and read.