Facebook Poets

A dedication to all the Facebook poets

For a while I couldn’t believe it
They call me shallow because my pocket is surface
It can’t go deeper… it doesn’t carry the notes or cheques required to make a book or album
They call me weak because my poetry travels thorough a system that accommodates all forms of evils

They call me not learned, because my poems are called notes and not poems
They disregard my work and think that since I choose facebook, there is no way I can race with the eagles
Sometimes they manage to drag my heart into a tearful and effusive stage of hopeless drunkenness
But most times they make me stronger… give me that balance… as they act as that pivot I ache for
I am a facebook poet

They say I am not a writer because I do not read a book every day, week or month
I blame them not; I am not a writer; I am an artist of words…
I see the world like a painter does and speak about movements of earth in detail like a poet
My words lay not in pages but they spread arms and like a potter they touch and shape
They sprout roses and like angels; they sing
And when they turn cold; they are sharper than a double edged sword
I am a facebook poet

Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining
I know and understand my position; I am a facebook poet
Not a book writing poet, not an album making poet
I own not a web address… or a huge fan base
I am a facebook poet and I will not feign my status
I am not in pursuit of your rhetoric understanding
Neither, choke me not with your extravagant empathies

Mimi nitakaza mwendo wangu
Mwishowe nionje jasho langu
Vumbi lako nilamba ndio mwanzo wa masomo
Hata nikikwama… mashida yakizingira…
safari sitakata… haraka haraka haina baraka
Najua nitafika

I just pray; that you understood the changing fortunes of time
Maybe, one day, a facebook poet will be respected as a POET


© Namatsi Lukoye