For Dr Robert Ouko

Who will kill the Fire he lit?
(For Dr, Robert Ouko, a victim of political murder. Written February, 1990).

He went away
and left behind
Shattered souls
and broken limbs.

A shamed pigment
and a job half done
Plenty of sad singing
and a state in crutches


We wondered who killed him …

Did he utter a word
That touched some raw chord?
Was it just another bucket kicked
In a land ruled by picked up pick-pockets?
What was that commission for?

From the ashes of Got Alila
A gallant fire he lit
That lifted us higher
For we did not fight
Fight that long-
So long
in vain.

We shall know who killed him…

That night-
The skies were dark, eyes wet
Lone lazy lizard wept that week

We wondered who killed him …

Was it daddy who loved us all
(or so they said),
Went to church, gave us milk and sang with us?
Who could have killed the lamp
the lamb ,
Atonement for our stinking sins
Sins that would block the public loo?

We shall know who killed him …..


At the border where once his body lay
Several more have now been slain
Now that the tears are dry
And our broken voices can speak again
And our cries have been reduced to a whimper .
Who will kill the fire he lit?

Now we know who killed him ...
Now we know who killed him.

otienoamisi