NEXT CIRCLE

By Okelo Sejo – Kakuma Refugee Camp

There is time for more
And time for less
Time for war
And time to seek refuge
Time to collect ration
And time to starve
Problem is there is just no time

I didn’t know if you’ll notice
That kid on barefoot
And not the holes on his pants
But only speak of the books
Naked on his hands and say
He got a pencil on the other
Coz you can’t live without it

Inside that empty house
Lies a tattered mat
Torn into half by the foreign soil
While rodents keep farming holes
On the empty sacks amidst lonely corner
The strong winds build threats
To pull off the unreplicable roof

She sat all alone
Head bowed between her hands
The unlit stove stares at her bluntly
The unwashed saucepan is thirsty
Yet the solo thatch glances innocently
Its only two weeks past
And yet another two stood in front
Till the next circle

Her kid sat down under a shade
With a red cup full of Uji
Distinct between engulfing all
Or keeping half for the next lesson
For there is another twenty four hours
Till the next cup of Uji
Yet another two weeks till the next food circle.